Image

Up Close With Plankton

March 19, 2012

Why study lifeless krill, copepods, and other tiny Arctic organisms under a microscope when you can see them live and in action in their native environment? During an early winter cruise out of Alaska in 2011, scientists used a Video Plankton Recorder to captured images of organisms that form the base of the Arctic food web. As a warming climate alters Arctic temperatures, WHOI scientists Carin Ashjian, Sam Laney, and Krista Longnecker are interested in learning what this means for the lives of the region’s smallest residents.

(Photo courtesy of Carin Ashjian, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)