DATELINE: 17 June 2002

SEALS TO GET DIVE COMPUTERS
Scientists at St Andrews University are planning to attach dive computers to grey seals to study their diving habits.
The first stage of the study will investigate the survival rates of grey seal pups on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth. Mobile phone tags will be attached to the baby seals; these will automatically dial in with information about their movements whenever the pups reach land. The researchers estimate that 50 per cent of seal pups do not survive their first year, and with the help of the mobile tags they are hoping to find out why.
The surviving pups will then be fitted out with dive computers to investigate their diving habits. The computers can connect to the local telephone system and download the dive profiles for the researchers.
"It's interesting for scientists because seals and humans are not that dissimilar," said chief research scientist Bernie McConnell.

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