I am a biologist with expertise in Antarctic wildlife, in particular seals, cetaceans and penguins. I have a strong field work background having spent two winters and a number of summers in the Antarctic, including quite a few under canvas. My scientific passion is in animal behaviour and my research has focused on feeding ecology; Using animal-borne telemetry devices to track the behaviour of seals and penguins whilst they are at sea. This work attempts to not only understand the behaviour of the animals themselves but also use these marine predators to monitor their underwater environment.

My recent work has looked at the behaviour of male and female seals relating observed differences to the contrasting constraints placed upon them by their life histories and morphology. I am also using new approaches to monitor the recovery of whale populations such as Satellite imagery and Passive Acoustic recorders.

I am actively engaged in public outreach with a wide range of media interviews including television, radio, print and online media. I regularly give talks to schools and and clubs ranging in ages from from 4 year olds to retirees.

My work forms part of the ECOSYSTEMS core science project.

Employment

1996 – (Current) Senior Scientific Officer – British Antarctic Survey: Antarctic Wildlife Biologist

Leading research focused on Antarctic fur seals and other higher predators. A wide range of subject areas from deployment of passive acoustic recorders, monitoring marine mammals from space, to pollution monitoring, and the use of biomarkers such as stable isotopes and fatty acids.

Field Work Experience

1996-1999 Bird Island research station South Georgia, investigating foraging, breeding and diet of Antarctic fur seals. Also working with penguin and albatross species breeding on the island. In final year I combined my science with the role of base commander running the base administration.

1999-2000 (summer) Bird Island research station, training new Assistant and working on seal biology projects.

2003-2004 Heard Island (summer), invited to join an Australian Antarctic Division expedition working on seal and penguin foraging.

2004 – Bird Island (summer), Investigating male fur seal foraging using satellite transmitters.

2005 – 2006 Cooper Bay, South Georgia (field camp) leading a project on female fur seal ecology.

2006 – 2007 Bird Island research station, using animal borne cameras on male fur seals in collaboration with American Scientists. Also participating in and assisting the filming for ‘Penguin Safari’ with Nigel Marvin

2007 (Autumn) Commander Islands, Russia, invited to join American / Russian project tagging northern fur seals

2007 – 2008 Hound Bay, South Georgia (field camp) Leading a project on female fur seal ecology and king penguin foraging.

2009-2010 Wilson Harbour (field camp) leading a project on female fur seal foraging investigating limits to their breeding distribution

2013 – 2014 Bird Island, tracking Antarctic fur seal mother-pup pairs

2015-2016 South Orkney Islands, tracking Antarctic fur seals and Penguins collaboration with Norwegian Polar Institute.

Education

1992-1996 PhD, University of Leicester and MAFF Fisheries Laboratory Lowestoft “The Feeding Ecology and Behaviour of Whiting Merlangius merlangus.”

1989-1992 BSc (Hons) Marine Biology, University of Wales (College Swansea). Grade 2i

RECENT MEETINGS

2019: World Marine Mammal Conference Barcelona – poster presentation & Judge

2019: IMBER – Brest meeting, invited speaker

2019: CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

2019: South Georgia MPA review meeting

2018 Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force – Southern Ocean workshop

2017: Student Marine Mammal conference Plymouth – Invited speaker

2015: SAERI Marine Spatial Planning and GAP analysis workshop

2014: ICED Scenarios workshop

2014: Whalefest, Invited talk on Whales from Space -Brighton

2014: CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

2014: Southern Ocean Research Partnership meeting South Korea

2013: Antarctic Science Conference, Cambridge UK

2013: South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands MPA workshop

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

I regularly provide interviews and expert advice for the media, including TV, radio, websites and newspapers and talks for the general public including:

2019 Winner “I’m a Scientist” online outreach programme for school students

2016 BBC radio 4 Today programme interview about penguin aggression

2016 Radio 5 interview penguin about National Geographic viral penguin video

2015 BBC1 “the Science of Cute” on camera interview about penguin locomotion

2014 BBC news and other media outlets interviews on Fur Seal genetics published in Nature.

Collaborations

I have a number of collaborations including:

PhD Student (Prem Gill) studying Seals from Space – with Scott Polar Reseach Institute.

Ecology of South American sea lions and fur seals in the Falkland Islands: With Dr Al Baylis

Functional Responses of Antarctic fur seals: With Dr Sophie Smout @ St Andrews University

PhD student (Kayleigh Jones) studying the ontogeny of sexual segregation in Antarctic fur seals : With Dr Steve Votier @ University of Exeter

PhD student (Pauline Goulet) developing passive and active acoustic animal borne tags: With Dr Mark Johnson @ University of St-Andrews

Predator/fisheries interactions in the Scotia Sea: Norwegian Polar Institute

CCAMLR papers

Staniland, I.J. (1999) Beach debris survey – Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia, 1997/98.CCAMLR-XVIII/BG/6. 15 pages.

Aspey, N.J. and Staniland, I.J. (1999) Entanglement of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) in manmade debris at Bird Island, South Georgia, during the 1998 winter and1998/99 pup-rearing season. SC-CAMLR-XVIII/BG/5. 20 pages.

Staniland, I.J. (1998) Entanglement of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella in man-made debris at Bird Island, South Georgia, during the 1997 winter and 1997/98 pup-rearing season. SC-CAMLR-XVII/BG/11. 22 pages

Staniland, I.J. and Reid, K. (1997) Draft standard methods for monitoring diet in Antarctic fur seals. WG-EMM-97/5. 4 pages.

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

• Staniland, I., Waluda, C., & Forcada, J. (2020). Platform Transmitting Terminal (PTT) tracking of Antarctic Fur Seals at Bird Island, South Georgia, from 1995 – 2010 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/224003cc-8f77-4980-8cac-5574e179e4f8

• Staniland, I. (2018). Leopard seal geolocation and activity data from Bird Island, South Georgia, 2003 to 2013 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation, UK. https://doi.org/10.5285/ad4aa321-06dc-42c1-892b-fbcd92f1f296

1. Higher Predators – Long-Term Science

   Higher Predators carries out long-term science to measure changes in Antarctic ecosystems. The aim is to understand the processes that drive these changes.

   Read more of: Higher Predators – Long-Term Science

   

2. Wildlife from Space

   Many populations of wildlife are remote, inaccessible or difficult to monitor. The advent of sub-metre, Very-High-Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery has enabled us study these animals in a much more efficient way.

   Read more of: Wildlife from Space

   

3. Krill Hotspots

   The aim of this project is to understand the biological and physical factors that produce the very large swarms of krill, or “krill hotspots” that are found in the South Orkneys region.

   Read more of: Krill Hotspots

   

5. Long term monitoring of plastics

   This project monitors plastics and debris in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic ecosystems, tracking impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, and coastal environments.

   Read more of: Long term monitoring of plastics

   

1. Bird Island Diary – October 2004

   Birds, seals and more birds The October diary for Bird Island is written by Iain Staniland and is available in pdf format by clicking the link below. Bird Island Diary […]

   Read more of: Bird Island Diary – October 2004

   

1. New insight into an enigmatic Antarctic apex predator

   Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have, for the first time, tracked the lives of leopard seals as they migrate around Antarctica. The team followed these formidable predators as they […]

   Read more of: New insight into an enigmatic Antarctic apex predator

   

2. NEWS STORY: Explaining sea lion decline

   The southern sea lion population of the Falkland Islands witnessed a dramatic decline during the last century with numbers falling by 95 per cent between the 1930s and 1960s. It […]

   Read more of: NEWS STORY: Explaining sea lion decline

   

3. NEWS STORY: Antarctic fur seals monitored

   New study tracks feeding behaviour of Antarctic fur seals in winter During the Antarctic Summer female fur seals feed in the waters around their breeding breaches. In winter, when their […]

   Read more of: NEWS STORY: Antarctic fur seals monitored

   

4. PRESS RELEASE: Satellites identify whales

   Satellites help spot whales Scientists have demonstrated how new satellite technology can be used to count whales, and ultimately estimate their population size. Using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, […]

   Read more of: PRESS RELEASE: Satellites identify whales

   

• Member of panel B, NERC review College