Meet Celia the seal, an unlikely participant in climate change research. As COP 26 heads to Glasgow this week, Celia is reminding visitors to Dive In! Protecting Our Ocean that seals and other marine mammals are facing the effects of global warming just as much as we humans.

Melting ice in polar waters affects marine mammals’ habitats for breeding and hunting and warming seas also make them more vulnerable to infectious diseases and water pollution.

As we rush to generate renewable energy, wind, tidal and wave farms can also pose threats to local wildlife. Research at St Andrews is guiding how to build and operate these farms to minimise the risks to the natural world. The tag on Celia’s head shows research scientists where seals go, including around man-made structures like wind turbines. This helps them to understand and reduce the risks to seals, but also to examine some unintended consequences, such as when these structures attract fish that seals can feed on.

The exhibition is open until 30 January 2022.

I’ve been working with the team at the Museum to create the exhibition over the last few months and we’ll be evaluating the results in due course. There’s a bit about how we put the exhibit together on the Gulbenkian Foundation blog.