Elephant seals know the waters of the Antarctic better than humans do. So instead of creating some fancy, expensive device that can explore them, scientists are strapping sensors onto the heads of these fat, fish-loving mammals and letting them do the work of monitoring the waters.

So far, the collaboration has been successful.

Scientists wanted to know the status of the region’s bottom waters, incredibly cold and dense water that comes from melted surface ice. The bottom waters are responsible for driving heat throughout the world’s oceans.

In the past several years, unprecedented melting from the region’s ice shelves have unleashed freshwater in huge amounts, potentially diluting and disrupting the bottom waters.

Determining just how diluted the bottom waters were, however, was challenging. Hence the seals.

Elephant seals can dive more than 5,000 feet and are able to cover vast stretches of water.

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With sensors tied to their heads, they can gather lots of useful data on temperature and salinity in short periods of time.

The team of international scientists published their results in Nature.

"We know this ice shelf is melting and we know it is accelerating, we think this dilution and freshing effect is likely to be ongoing into the future," Guy Williams, the lead author of the research from the University of Tasmania, told WIRED.

"The implication from the study is ultimately that the density of the shelf waters may be reduced. It's the first direct evidence of the balance between the freshing and solidification in some of these regions."

Without the churning created by the Antarctic bottom waters, oceanic patterns throughout the world could be disrupted, leading to unknown consequences.

This isn’t the first time scientists have tapped animals to better understand the climate.

By observing the migration and behavioral patterns of animals, scientists can better determine the effects of climate change.

Read More: This Is the First Mammal to Go Extinct From Climate Change

For example, the warming global climate has extended the lifespan of bark beetles that are now eating huge chunks of forest in parts of North America.

The Maine lobster business has cratered because the sea creature has responded to warmer waters by traveling North.

Broad surveys of bird species have helped scientists better understand the ways in which changing climates are harmful.

But not many experiments have been carried out with animals actively collecting data. These hardworking seals could provide a template for similar studies in the future.