Oceanic blending potentially facilitated by plankton, such as this adult brine shrimp, according to recent studies.
In the vast expanse of the ocean, the impact of tiny organisms like Sea-Monkeys (brine shrimp) on large-scale currents has long been a mystery. However, recent research by John Dabiri, an engineer studying biological physics at Caltech, is shedding new light on this subject.
Dabiri plans to test the stratification question and perform experiments at a larger scale in the ocean. He and his colleague Monica Wilhelmus are extending their research to other vertically migrating animals such as krill and copepods, following in the footsteps of their earlier work on jellyfish.
The swirls and eddies created by the "fast lane" of water as animals swim through it are much larger than the animals themselves, as reported in the journal Physics of Fluids. While it is clear that wind, tides, the Earth's rotation, temperature, and salinity differences primarily drive ocean currents, Dabiri suggests that the collective movements of plankton might produce currents large enough to mix seawater.
Plankton, including Sea-Monkeys, are not always passive and can move up and down in the ocean in dense layers. Dabiri's research has shown that when these organisms swim together, they can move water over distances greater than their body length. This finding suggests that animals could transport water over distances much longer than their body size.
However, it is essential to understand that while plankton movement itself does not drive ocean currents, it plays an important indirect role in oceanic and climate systems. Phytoplankton perform photosynthesis, converting CO2 into organic matter and oxygen, supporting marine food webs and sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When plankton die, their organic matter can sink to the ocean floor as "marine snow," effectively transporting carbon to the deep ocean and influencing long-term carbon storage.
Changes in plankton distribution and abundance could impact oceanic carbon cycling and thus have potential implications for climate in the long term. While there is no current evidence suggesting that collective plankton movements significantly alter physical ocean circulation patterns, their ecological roles are vital to understanding ocean-atmosphere interactions and future climate dynamics.
Jane J. Lee is following the research on Twitter, keeping the public informed about the latest developments in this fascinating field. In the laboratory, Dabiri and his team are using brine shrimp in their research because they are easier to raise and highly attracted to light, making it possible to use lasers to trigger their migration in laboratory tanks. By seeding the water with silver-coated, hollow glass spheres, the researchers can see the fluid flow produced by their sea-monkey herd as it follows the lasers up and down in the tank.
Christian Noss, an environmental physicist at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany, expresses skepticism about whether the effect would scale up from the laboratory to the ocean. Nonetheless, Dabiri finds it interesting that animals, seemingly at the mercy of the water, could play a role in shaping their own environment. Noss's work with the crustacean Daphnia showed that stratified conditions dampened the mixing produced by these animals.
Dabiri hopes to investigate this phenomenon further to determine if it is a common occurrence in the ocean. If it is, it could have significant implications for our understanding of the ocean's role in regulating the planet's climate. As research continues, we can look forward to uncovering more secrets hidden within the depths of the ocean.
- Research by John Dabiri, an engineer studying biological physics at Caltech, is investigating the impact of tiny ocean organisms like Sea-Monkeys (brine shrimp) on large-scale currents, potentially shedding new light on the subject.
- The collective movements of plankton, including Sea-Monkeys, might produce currents large enough to mix seawater, as suggested by Dabiri's research.
- Plankton, such as krill, copepods, jellyfish, and Sea-Monkeys, can move up and down in the ocean in dense layers, potentially transporting water over distances much longer than their body size.
- Phytoplankton, like Sea-Monkeys, perform photosynthesis, converting CO2 into organic matter and oxygen, supporting marine food webs and sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Changes in plankton distribution and abundance could impact oceanic carbon cycling and have potential implications for climate in the long term.
- The findings of Dabiri's research, along with ongoing investigations in environmental and climate sciences, are revealing fascinating secrets hidden within the depths of the ocean, potentially shaping our understanding of the planet's climate.
