Hey. I've got a game for you.
Can you tell me what this sound is?
And now have a go at guessing this sound.
One of these sounds was a seal, and the other send the sound from space.
Find out of the end which is which.
I'm Prem Gill. I'm a Ph.D.
student in Antarctic Studies, and I'm looking at how we can use
satellite images to study seals from space.
To study seals from space we use satellite imagery,
which has such a high resolution that you can see seals, baby seals,
even blood on the sea ice from a seal giving birth all the way from space.
The reason we use satellites to study
seals in Antarctica is because seals live on the sea ice.
And the sea ice in Antarctica can cover an area that's double the size of Europe.
This means if you were to go out in a ship or a boat
to try and count all the seals, it would just be too costly to do.
And satellites provide a cost effective way to monitor the whole of the Antarctic region.
One big challenge we have when it comes to studying seals with satellites is actually knowing
whether the big black blob you're looking at is a seal or if it's a rock.
To get around this, I went down to Antarctica
with a field spectrometer where I was basically holding a really long
pole over seals and measuring the sunlight that was reflected off them.
The whole idea behind this was to see whether or not
we could look at wavelengths invisible to the human eyes,
such as UV or infrared that's reflected off the seals
to not only tell what is seal and what is rock but also potentially
be able to tell a different seal species when we look at satellite images.
The great thing about using satellite imagery to study Antarctic seals is that you no longer
have to be someone who's privileged enough to be able to get down to Antarctica
to actually study the species that live there.
By using satellite images, you could be in your bedroom,
on your laptop, and exploring regions that no one's ever been to.
Looking at colonies of penguins and seals that have not been discovered.
And the great thing about this is not only does it allow scientists like me
to be able to explore all these regions without having to visit them,
but also provides an opportunity for loads of other people to get involved with polar science.
One of the best things I've been able to do during my Ph.D.
is bring together students who had never engaged in polar science
before to work with me in looking at how we can use state-of-the-art
satellite imagery to monitor polar wildlife, including seals and penguins.
It was amazing to see the students looking at these abstract black blobs
on this white background and slowly realizing that they were witnessing
the first moments of a seal's life upon the sea ice of Antarctica.
Through my polar science P.h.D., I've been able to engage with lots of outreach.
I've worked as a researcher
on Frozen Planet II, I've guest lectured ar Oxford University,
I've sent up hackathons and collaborations with the Alan Turing Institute.
And I've even appeared as a cartoon within a children's
book all about how we can help save the world.
Another thing I've been able to do is set up Polar Impact,
which is all about changing the face of polar research
and providing opportunities to those from underrepresented backgrounds
to become future polar scientists and polar explorers.
The reason I try to make polar science more accessible is not because it's
seen as a nice thing to do. It's because it's essential.
We need people from all walks of life engaged in polar science and leading it.
The polar regions are far too important to be left to a small community.
We really need to have as many people involved as we can.
So did you guess seal or space?
The first sound you listened to is actually space.
So we have a space weather observatory in Antarctica with the low
frequency radio receiver, and that's able to pick up
radio waves created by our planet and turn them into audible sounds.
And the first time sound you listened to is actually the Southern Lights.
So when the southern lights or the auroras are generated,
natural radio waves are emitted, and those are picked up by the low
frequency radio receiver
and turn into audible sounds, which we've dubbed the Dawn Chorus,
because it sounds a little bit like birds singing.
And the second sound is actually a big old chubby
Weddell seal making sounds in Antarctica and sounding like a little fat spaceship.