Session GI7 features MEOPP, a proposal submitted under the umbrella of the upcoming International IPY Program (International Polar Year http://www.ipy.org), marking the "50th anniversary celebration" of the big international exploratory push of polar regions of the IGY. This session presents new instrumentation that will feature in IPY. MEOPP will use newly developed instruments that have been used in a project called SEaOS (see link below), which has finished its data collection phase and is into analysis.

MEOPP stands for "Marine Mammal Exploration of the Oceans Pole to Pole". The underlying premise is that thanks to our technological developments in data collection, storage and communication, we will this time have the polar animals themselves as part of the exploratory team. Who better, some might ask, to help us get data on places important to both them and us?

Session: GI7 Instrumentation related to the International Polar Year | >>programme

Kit Kovacs of Norsk Polarinstitutt is coordinating this ambitious project which involves teams from 8 countries and counting. The Scottish group Sea Mammal Research Unit has developed the instrumentation.

Prof Mike Fedak, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland states that far from exploiting "the animals for our own scientific needs, [...] the work is driven by our wish to understand the animals and be better stewards of their environment. But in doing this, we can benefit the science of the earth system and mankind as a whole. Linked to this is the growing realization of how important understanding the oceans is to understanding global climate dynamics and how human activities are affecting it."
"And secondly, and related to this, is the true interdisciplinary nature of the project which brings together the oceanographic and biological communities to the mutual benefit of both. This is a "Win/Win" project as viewed from both disciplines."

Sessions:

GI7 Instrumentation related to the International Polar Year | >>programme
US3 The International Polar Year 2007-2008: The Emerging Framework | >>programme
The SEaOS project: http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/seaos/index.html
The Sea Mammal Research Unit: http://www.smru.st-and.ac.uk

Participants: