Arctic Catch

A net towed through the Bering Sea yielded a catch of copepods, tiny shrimp-like animals that are critical links in the productive Arctic Ocean food chain. In spring 2009, WHOI biologist and copepod expert Carin Ashjian led a research cruise to the Bering Sea aboard the icebreaker USCGC Healy. The cruise, featured on the WHOI Polar Discovery web site, was part of a multi-year research effort to study how climate change will affect this delicately balanced ocean ecosystem. WHOI’s newest online expedition, exploring the Gulf of Mexico seafloor, is under way now on the Dive and Discover site.(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)