During Oden Southern Ocean scientist collected samples from three endemic seal species, i.e., the Ross, Weddell, and crabeater seals. The main interest was to search for antibodies to canine distemper virus in the seals. Canine distemper was accidently brought to Antarctica via sledge dogs in the 1950’s and was discovered still circulating in the seal population during the 1988/89 SWEDARP expedition.

By studying two parallel ecosystems, the ecosystems in Antarctica and the seals along Swedish coastlines, this  will improve our understanding of how viruses circulate in natural populations, helping us make better models to predict disease outbreaks.

Video made by: Tero Härkönen, Jonas Teilmann and Olle Karlsson