In Their Own World

During an early-winter expedition to the Arctic led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution biologist Carin Ashjian, investigators used a video plankton recorder  (VPR) to study tiny animal plankton in the ocean ecosystem. The VPR is an underwater microscope towed from a ship that captures detailed images of living plankton without disturbing them, so researchers can observe their normal appearance and behavior. Clockwise from upper left, four VPR images (not to scale) from this cruise show a krill, a copepod, a comb jelly, and an arrow worm.(Photo collage courtesy of Carin Ashjian, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)