Modern technology is proving no match for elephant seals when its comes to monitoring the Southern Ocean in the depth of winter.
The massive mammals - the male of the species can weigh more than three tonnes - are being fitted with special oceanographic sensors to record data in parts of the ocean traditional monitoring cannot access.
And, according to new research, the elephant seals are bringing back up to 30 times more data than the usual techniques.
Scientist Steve Rintoul, from CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship and the Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre, said the mammals had made it possible to observe large areas of the ocean under the sea ice in winter for the first time.
"Conventional oceanographic platforms cannot provide observations under the sea ice, particularly on the Antarctic continental shelf where the most important water mass transformations take place," he said in a statement.
"Until now, our ability to represent the high-latitude oceans and sea ice in oceanographic and climate models has suffered as a result."
The work being done by the elephant seals is particularly critical in light of the current concerns over global warming and climate change.
The polar regions are expected to experience the greatest rates of warming compared with other regions of the world.
Limited information so far suggests that the circumpolar Southern Ocean has warmed more rapidly than the global ocean average.
