The organisms of the micronekton community (between 2 and 20 cm) are relatively good swimmers, and are able to avoid plankton nets. Conversely, they are too small for conventional commercial pelagic nets, which results on its extrusion through the large mesh sizes. Another feature of these organisms is that they tend to aggregate in different […]
The organic carbon produced by photosynthesis in the illuminated area of the ocean that is not consumed there, sediments to the so-called mesopelagic zone (between 200 and 1000 m deep) where it remains for decades, while the carbon that sediments in the deep ocean below 1000 m depth will remain sequestered for hundreds of years. […]
Michael Heath & Michael Brown University of Strathclyde’s marine modelling group recently hosted two MEESO project researchers; Berthe Vastenhoud and Amanda Schadeberg on internships from the Danish Technical University and Wageningen University & Research respectively. Berthe is completing her PhD on mesopelagic fish and wanted to work with MEESO modellers Douglas Speirs and Emma Dolmaire […]
NOC scientists are recently back from a cruise to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain observatory in the North Atlantic where they have testing a prototype camera system developed as part of SUMMER. We can hopefully report on that soon. It also gave us an excellent opportunity to produce a short film highlighting the mesopelagic. ‘The Twilight Zone’ spans […]
Ctenophores are bioluminescent, gelatinous organisms – also known as comb jellies. They swim by row-like motions with their “combs”, aligned in 8 rows around its body. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from a few millimeters to over one meter! Altough they look like jellyfish, ctenophores actually belong to an entirely different […]
The Pelican eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), aptly named after its huge […] It can be regarded as the mascot of the deep […] Ctenophores are bioluminescent, gelatinous organisms – also known as comb […] Sea angels… Small, yet graceful. It has no shell, […] Siphonophores may be some of the most unique and fascinating […] It […]
Whales, sperm whales and dolphins are among the most charismatic marine species in the world. Humans have derived direct benefits from cetaceans for centuries. After decimating various whale populations until the middle of the 20th century, the exploitation of these species has now turned to ecotourism; tourist activities linked to cetacean watching are worth several […]
It can be regarded as the mascot of the deep sea, with a shining lure over its head and mouth full of sharp teeth. But did you know that only female anglerfish looks like this? The males actually live as parasites on females, and can be ten times smaller than their female counterparts. Before reproduction, […]
Sea angels… Small, yet graceful. It has no shell, but is still a snail. Sea angels (Gymnosomata) are a group of pelagic, free-swimming molluscs, present all the way from polar regions under the sea ice, to warm tropical seas. There are many species of sea angels, and the largest ones can only reach a size […]
“Open data” means that scientists make the data that they collect available to everyone, without any cost or other barrier. This is part of “Open Science”, which also includes publishing research articles in open access, and involves making citizens part of the research (Citizen Science) in addition to other practises. Open Science allows everyone to […]
Mesopelagic fishes form deep acoustic scattering layers during daytime and, to a varying degree, occupy upper waters at night. The diel vertical migrations relate to changing light levels. The duration of twilight periods may be key in the trade-off between feeding opportunities and predation risk. Planktivores that locate their prey by sight and in turn […]
Mesopelagic organisms are important prey for cetacean species, that are known to feed heavily on them, diving to great depth or relying on the diel vertical migration of mesopelagic prey to surface waters [Gimenez et al., 2018]. However, limited information is available on how much mesopelagic prey is consumed by cetaceans. Consumption estimates for cetaceans […]
APECOSM is a mechanistic 3D size-structured integrated ecosystem model developed by the IRD team in SUMMER. In the SUMMER project, it is coupled two-ways to the ocean-biogeochemistrery model NEMO-PISCES to investigate the biomass distribution and dynamics of mesopelagic organisms, their role in the biological carbon pump and the potential impacts of their exploitation in a […]
Elephant seals, also known as Sea elephants may not […] Marine Hatchetfishes (Sternoptychinae) are a subfamily of small pelagic […] Researchers from AZTI (Spain), National Oceanography Centre (UK), University […] A small exhibition of the extraordinary and incredible creatures hidden […] The oceanic mesopelagic or twilight zone (from 200 to […] The depth and unique […]
