A working USB stick was found in the frozen feces of a rare Antarctic leopard seal last February 5 in New Zealand.
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) volunteers recovered the stick while examining the seal’s poop that has been sitting in the freezer for over a year now.
NIWA shared footage from the functioning USB stick, which showed a kayaker paddling in Porpoise Bay. There was also a video of leopard seals playing in the coastal waters, as reported by The Guardian.
Because of this discovery, New Zealand’s national science body will be launching a hunt for the owner of the USB.
Scientists and researchers collect samples from rare animals’ bodily wastes to gain more information about the species living in the Antarctic and why most of these Antarctic-based animals head to the New Zealand waters these days.
“It is very worrying that these amazing Antarctic animals have plastic like this inside them,” told Jodie Warren, a volunteer who recovered the USB stick, to The Guardian.
NIWA research team are hoping to find the USB stick owner and recruit “the keen seal watcher to volunteer.”
