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What has been your favourite critter of the day so far?

I had another question, it doesn't really have anything to do with expedition ten, but, where are you from?

I was also wondering if you or anyone else on the Gould has been on any other expeditions? If so, what was your main job in the others you have been on?

Julia

Dear Julia:
Great to hear from you. You probably think this might be boring, but my favorite critter is the salps we are studying. You might not think they are special, as we have found thousands of them, but they are because we are finding out new things about their biology and ecology during this cruise. As one of the two authors of the proposal requesting the funding to do this study, I am especially excited that our cruise is being so productive and we are getting lots of good results.

I grew up in California and went to Stanford University as an undergraduate. For graduate school I went to the University of Rhode Island and earned a PhD degree in biological oceanography. After that I spent several years at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the past ten years I have been at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Marine Sciences. Adding up all that, you can tell I am pretty old, but I do not feel old when I am on a research cruise and I get to do experimental work every day.

Do you mean the other expedition for Dive and Discover? This is my first Dive and Discover cruise. All my other expeditions have been mainly geological studies of the deep sea. Most research scientists are pretty specialized in their expertise, so would not be educated enough to make scientific contributions in areas where they do not have a strong background.

Although I have not been on other Dive and Discover expeditions, I have been on many oceanographic research cruises. About 15 months ago I was here in Antarctica, doing the same study as we are working on now. It was a different season (early summer instead of late summer), so we are looking forward to comparing our results from the two cruises. I have also done a lot of research on shipboard in the Bahamas, in the Arabian Sea (between India and Oman), in the open ocean off Bermuda and the ocean about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of Delaware and Maryland. Most my work has been with "gelatinous zooplankton," including jellyfish, salps, and comb jellies (ctenophores, spoken, “teen-oh-fore”).

Regards,
Pat Kremer
Co-Principal Investigator
University of Connecticut

Hi,
My science class has been observing this expedition carefully. I am wondering what aspects of the Antarctic ecosystem will the overpopulation of salps affect?

Chetan Pal S. Ashta
Ms. Sheild's 7th grade science class
Jonas Clarke Middle School
Lexington, Massachusetts

Dear Chetan:

Salps have always been part of the Antarctic ecosystem. Although there is evidence that they are increasing in abundance in recent years, I wouldn't call it an overpopulation yet. However, when they are very abundant they could affect the ecosystem by eating most of the phytoplankton that other grazers like krill need. We're not sure yet whether this competition is actually happening, and we want to learn more about how much salps need to eat and how fast they grow, so that we can predict what effects their population could have. There is still a lot we don't know about them.

Thanks for your question and for following our expedition.
Larry Madin
Chief Scientist

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Have you found any new species? I am also wondering what it is like working in the cold frigid air.

Thanks! I hope the mission goes well!

Michael Rocchi
St. Philip Neri School
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania

Dear Michael:
We are glad you are watching and writing. We may have seen a new species of an animal called a ctenophore (teen-oh-fore), or comb-jelly. We aren't sure if it's new, but none of the scientists with us who study ctenophores know what it is, yet. They will have to look at it, take pictures, and describe it in a formal paper before it can be a new species and get a name.

Working in the cold air can be very tiring if you get really chilled. But we have lots of special clothes, loaned to us by the U. S. Antarctic Program, to keep us warm when outside. The divers wear full dry-suit and many layers, and stay fairly warm for the dive. We have a "hot topic" on the kind of gear they wear, on the Dive and Discover site. Thanks for your questions, and your good wishes,

Kate Madin
Writer
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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