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Up from the Deep

July 17, 2014

In 2012 WHOI scientist Gareth Lawson led a research cruise in the Northeast Pacific to study the abundance, distribution, and shell condition of pteropods—tiny planktonic snails—and relate the findings to seawater chemistry. Pteropods, with calcium carbonate shells, are vulnerable to changes in ocean chemistry from increasing ocean acidification. Using a MOCNESS net, the research team sampled plankton from the surface to 1,000 meters deep. They captured pteropods, plus other fascinating animals, including this “glass squid” found at night at 1,000 meters. A video of the squid can be seen here. (Photo by Gareth Lawson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)