engleski

SWIMMING WITH MESOPELAGICS

A collaborative effort called MEDUZA was established in 2002 between US, Croatian and Slovenian scientists to investigate gelatinous zooplankton ecology in the southern Adriatic Sea. In conjunction with the MEDUZA program, several cruises were made to a 1200 m depth station characterized by clear, oligotrophic surface waters largely devoid of metazoan activity during the day. Yet, at night, a remarkable migration of mesopelagic organisms to depths shallower than 20 m occurs. Among this diverse assemblage are gelatinous animals otherwise available for study only by manned and remotely operated vehicles. We will present an overview of the MEDUZA program and a specific assessment of how this locale is being used to conduct in situ manipulations on mesopelagic jellies such as dye tracer studies of swimming mechanics. We will also discuss how these studies, which utilize blue-water SCUBA, can be applied to non-SCUBA (i.e., ROV) approaches in deeper waters.

Medusae; Mesopelagic; Open Sea

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