Laser-guided sea monkeys help scientists study ocean currents

 

With the help of lasers, scientists have shown that the movement of tiny "sea monkeys" can actually affect water currents on an oceanwide scale.

 

A study conducted by researchers Monica Wilhelmus and John Dabiri at the California Institute of Technology have shown that the migration patterns of Artemia salina—more popularly known as brine shrimp or "sea monkeys"—may have an effect on ocean circulation patterns.

 

Brine shrimp were popularized as pets in 1957 by Harold von Braunhut, according to LiveScience.com. Initially marketed as "Instant Life" and later called "Sea Monkeys," they're actually a hybrid species named Artemia NYOS.

 

 

In their natural habitat, brine shrimp migrate vertically in large groups, responding to changing light conditions: during the day, they retreat deeper into the ocean, and at night, they move closer to the surface.

 

Wilhelmus and Dabiri were able to show that this migration pattern creates currents much larger than the sum of the currents generated by individual brine shrimp, on a level comparable to the effects of the wind and tides.

Lasers and shrimp in the lab

 

To simulate their actual migration in the wild, brine shrimp in the lab were made to move upwards in their tank by following the light from a laser. Researchers mixed in microscopic glass spheres coated in silver and high-speed cameras to observe the changing water distribution caused by the brine shrimps' migration.

^{A time lapse of migrating sea monkeys (white) and particles suspended in the water (yellow) reveals large, swirling currents created by the swimming animals that mix the surrounding water.}
 

Researchers estimate that the movement patterns of small organisms in the water could contribute a trillion watts of power to the ocean.

 

“This research suggests a remarkable and previously unobserved two-way coupling between the biology and the physics of the ocean: the organisms in the ocean appear to have the capacity to influence their environment by their collective swimming,” said Dabiri. — TJD, GMA News