In our latest livestream, we showed the sea spray generator that we have had operating on the ship. We discussed how one of the motivations of the sea spray generator experiments is seeing how the biology in the sea water can influence the sea spray that is produced. In this article, we will dive into that biology of the Southern Ocean and how it is linked to the atmosphere!
During the voyage, one of the research objectives is linking biology in the ocean to processes in the atmosphere. Because of that goal, we have looked for opportunities for measurements when there is a biologically active area. Sometimes you can spot biologically active regions by eye. Most of the time the first thing you will notice are the birds. When you see the flocks of birds, they are often feeding, and it is a good indication that you are in a biologically active area.
The birds eat zooplankton (like small fish) and where there are zooplankton there is generally higher concentrations of phytoplankton (microscopic organisms that photosynthesize like plants.) These plankton are the base of the food web in the Southern Ocean. Everything depends on them so when you have an area with lots of phytoplankton, everything else tends to move to that area too. Down south near Antarctica, we would often spot whales by looking for flocks of birds.
