Land Guardians Conduct Seal Monitoring
Land Guardians and partners prepare to attach a monitoring device to a seal before returning it to the water.
By Chaz Collier
July 16, 2024
If you had told me when I was a little kid that someday I would be putting backpacks onto seals, I never would have believed you. But now that I am a Land Guardian for the Seal River Watershed Alliance, I had this opportunity as part of our ongoing work to care for our lands and waters.
In May, I joined a small group of scientists to start a seal monitoring project outside of Churchill, in partnership with the Assiniboine Park Zoo, Parks Canada, and Oceans North. The Seal River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) believes that having more data about where seals travel upriver will help us better track what’s happening in our territory.
We have many seals heading into the watershed. This travel from saltwater to freshwater is rare in most species, including seals. Some Parks Canada guides said they’ve studied seals all their lives and never seen this behaviour. The SRWA wants to understand why this unusual migration happens in the watershed, and maybe answer questions like: Are seals linked to the lack of fish in Shethanei Lake—something there is no evidence for yet, but more data will help us understand what’s happening in the river and lake.
That’s how I found myself on an ice floe putting monitors on seals.
On the first day of the monitoring project, we couldn’t go out far because the weather conditions weren’t right and the floe wasn’t stable enough, so we stood on Airport Rock and counted seals by sight.
Land Guardian Coordinator Jordan Stengard counts seals from the ice floe edge outside of Churchill as part of the seal monitoring project.
The second day, we flew in an airplane north of Churchill for an aerial count. It was a challenge! When you are up above, everything looks the same. Then someone points out that you are looking for little sausages, and you start to see them. We counted 30-40 seals that day, and one walrus.
The third day we got out on the ice to do some seal tagging. The first time we pulled up a seal, I observed how the lead scientist did it. For the second one, I jumped in to help and learned just how strong seals are. It was a little, small guy, but the seal still threw me around. One was a monster size, and as soon as on shore, it snapped our net instantly.
I was trying to control the neck to reduce the seal’s movement, and I was also trying to attach a small backpack. The backpacks reminded me of a small Game Boy Advance. It has three antanee that collect location data as the seal swims and dives. The backpack is glued on. A vetrenarian was also putting in a flipper tag, which has to be holed in. I like the backpack monitor because it’s a lot less cruel and doesn’t cause the seal pain.
Within a day of one of attaching the backpacks, we found that one of the seals had already headed into the watershed. It was instant information. And the SRWA and Land Guardians have access to all the data.
I’ve been a Land Guardian for over a year and a half, and it’s been phenomenal. I knew I loved the land, but this job has helped me really get to know the watershed. If you treat this job the way it should be treated, you can get unlimited opportunities—including hugging seals to put backpacks on them.
Growing up, I wanted to be a conservation officer, but being a Land Guardian is even better. You get to enjoy the beauty of the land and work with communities and help ensure their freezers are full and their land is protected.
Land Guardian Chaz Collier and Adam Nalge on the ice for the seal monitoring project.
