This project will use SCUBA in the open ocean, which allows us  to observe and collect undisturbed and undamaged animals that live in the water column from the surface down to around 100 feet. The ocean away from land is clear and blue, so this technique is called bluewater SCUBA diving. It is a particularly important way to study the target animals of this project because these animals are damaged or destroyed when they are caught in nets.

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Bluewater diving is also the best way to learn how any undisturbed pelagic (open sea) animals behave in their natural environment. Animals that live in the water away from the seafloor have not adapted to encountering surfaces. When these animals are put into an aquarium, it is difficult to know how much their physical confinement alters the way they behave. In situ underwater studies (studies that occur in the animal’s natural underwater environment) allow us to learn about an organism’s normal behaviors. At our Liquid Jungle Lab and Gulf Stream field site,  we observe and collect undisturbed and undamaged mucus mesh grazers in situ using Bluewater SCUBA techniques.  Through this project, we aim to develop new techniques and technologies to integrate the sampling of gelatinous animals with microbes in situ using bluewater SCUBA. The results from this area of our project will enable better measurements of the rates of gelatinous grazer feeding on microbes, the fluid mechanics of animal feeding, and how grazers select their microbial prey.

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Photo Attribution: Gitai Yahel