Reflecting on the Voyage

Now that our voyage is almost over I'm reflecting on all of the amazing parts of this voyage. For me, one of the most exciting parts of each day has been seeing what zooplankton we caught in the net tows.

It's rare to get a glimpse of what lives below the surface of the ocean.
We've seen whales come up to look at the ship and flying fish leap out of the water and glide for longer than seems possible. We've caught fish and snorkeled among the bright tropical coral reefs. Sea birds visit when we are miles from the nearest island. There are fleeting glimpses of the fantastic organisms that make this place their home but those glimpses are often interspersed by miles of waves and sky.

Part of the reason for this is that we're traveling through an ocean desert.

Few things are able to grow here because of low nutrients. However, just as in a land desert this does not mean that the area is devoid of life. It is still full of organisms entangled in a complex web of interactions that enable them to survive in a place where other organisms can't. How do we observe the life living in the water column, hidden out of sight of human eyes? One way (at least for smaller animals) is to do net tows. During a net tow we drag fine mesh net alongside the boat. Usually we do a Neuston net, which is dragged across the surface layer, or a Meter net, which is sent deep water column where many organisms take refuge. But the exciting part is what comes out of the net. You get a first look during the initial processing when you can watch the zooplankton swimming around the bucket, confused about why they are no longer in the ocean.

During the next step we do what's called a 100 count to get a measure of species diversity and you get a closer look under a microscope. I love looking at the fantastic shapes, shells, legs, gelatinous structures, eyes, and segmented bodies that make up the organisms we find. The best part is that I've seen organisms I didn't know were possible, full of strange curves and crazy shapes that give clues about how they live. Some of my favorites are the many varieties of pelagic snails (a type of zooplankton that we've been seeing more of recently). Pelagic snails have a shell and body like the snails you see attached to rocks but instead of having a foot they have wings that allow them to swim through the water. Some have shells that are a round spiral while others have spikes or shells shaped like ice cream cones.

A common find in the Neuston net are tiny purple snails called bubble raft snails that create a raft of bubbles that they use to float at the surface of the water. There are even naked pteropods (snails without shells) that look like little angels flapping their wings as they swim. I've seen so many amazing creatures and learned so much during these past five weeks and I'm excited to continue learning about the ocean.

-Laura