Eyes in the sea: Swarms of floating robots observe the oceans

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 12:31:05 -0500

When Scripps biological oceanographer Peter Franks needed a way to mimic planktonic movements in the ocean, Scripps research oceanographer Jules Jaffe created low-cost "miniature autonomous underwater explorers," or M-AUEs. The M-AUEs can be deployed in swarms to track planktonic movements as well as small-scale circulation patterns, oil spill dispersion or even sewage movement. Credit: Jaffe Lab for Underwater Imaging, Scripps Oceanography, UC San Diego.

In 1999, Peter Franks, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, published a hypothesis that, to his knowledge, nobody had previously considered. Using a mathematical model, he showed how tiny zooplankton and phytoplankton could interact with ocean currents driven by internal waves — slow-moving waves within the ocean that form between water layers of differing density — and form patchy bands running parallel to shorelines. These patches of plankton could benefit from being squeezed together by wave action, he thought, by being better able to feed, survive or even reproduce.

Ancient plankton communities stressed before mass extinction

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:34:44 -0500

These fossilized shallow-water graptolites found in Nevada are from the Ordovician. Credit: Charles E. Mitchell.

Changes in our modern ecosystems, such as declines in biodiversity and invasive species, are similar to those that preceded the first of Earth’s mass extinctions about 443 million years ago, according to a new study. Researchers recently found that ancient plankton communities began to show environmental stress nearly 400,000 years before the extinction, as the planet cooled.

Plankton on EARTH Magazine

Eyes in the sea: Swarms of floating robots observe the oceans

Ancient plankton communities stressed before mass extinction