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A analysis workforce from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Analysis Kiel is on the lookout for jellyfish within the depths of the ocean, amongst different issues — and it is drafted in a specially-built robotic to trace them down.
“It is rather seemingly that we are going to uncover new species on this cruise,” Jan Dierking, PhD, predicts of the deliberate launch of expedition MSM126, which can discover deep-sea habitats round Madeira. “We need to see how organisms within the open water are linked to the deep sea: who eats whom, who competes with whom? I’m very excited to see what the attention on the seabed will reveal.”
The Maria S. Merian has set sail for Madeira, aiming to shine a light-weight on the “jelly net” beneath the ocean’s waves. (📷: GEOMAR)
That “eye” is a part of a payload of apparatus being taken on the mission, dubbed Pelagic in Situ Remark System (PELAGIOS). This shall be joined by echosounders and towed cameras, dubbed the Ocean Ground Observing System (XOFOX), which can map three areas round Madeira — a deep-sea canyon, an underwater plateau, and a submarine ridge — from depths of 50m to 3km (round 164 toes to 9,800 toes).
For direct sampling, although, the workforce has what it calls the “Swiss Military knife of marine analysis,” ROV PHOCA, a remotely-operated submersible robotic which might attain depths of 3km whereas feeding again dwell high-definition video by means of an optical tether. Throughout the mission the robotic shall be used to take samples utilizing what’s highly-technically termed the “slurp gun,” and to research what occurs throughout a “meals fall” the place natural supplies sink from the higher sea to the depths.
The mission will use ROV PHOCA to take samples with its “slurp gun,” the workforce has stated. (📷: ROV Group/GEOMAR)
A serious focus of the mission is on jellyfish, and the way they contribute to the meals net within the ocean. “This group of organisms may be very numerous,” says Henk-Jan Hoving, PhD, of the creatures. “A few of them can develop to tens of metres in size. Some are predators, feeding on crustaceans, fish or different gelatinous organisms. Others depend on detritus, the lifeless and decaying materials that’s considerable within the water column.”
“The jelly net most likely performs a vital position within the processing of natural matter,” Dierking provides, “as a result of jellyfish can happen in giant numbers, and when such a ‘jelly bloom’ dies, doubtlessly a considerable amount of this biomass sinks. However for a lot of areas, together with Madeira, we do not know the way a lot of it really reaches the seabed or who feeds on it.”
ROV PHOCA shall be joined within the depths by PELAGIOS, a deep-sea digital camera and environmental monitor array. (📷: Solvin Zankl)
The mission launched right now in Portugal, and is because of finish in Spain on 4 March; through the mission, schoolchildren shall be invited for a query and reply session, the researchers have confirmed. Extra info is offered on the GEOMAR web site.
Major article picture courtesy of Henk-Jan Hoving/GEOMAR.
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