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Whale of a Web

February 17, 2017

Tomorrow is World Whale Day. WHOI post-doctoral researcher Randelle Bundy took this photo of an orca during a cruise off the coast of Antarctica to look at something on the other end of the size scale—diatoms—that, despite their size are an important part of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Bundy was on the ship as part of her work to understand the relationship between diatoms and bacteria. These bacteria produce a group of organic molecules that Bundy and others think might help diatoms obtain the iron they need to live and, ultimately, to support a food web that includes whales. (Photo by Randelle Bundy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution )