Today’s Highlights
- For daily expedition images, visit CIOERT Flickr collection at: http:/www.flickr.com/photos/cioert/.
My Zooplankton Journey
Noelle Notarnicola, MS Student, Biological Scientist, FAU
When most people hear that I am studying marine biology, they immediately think about fish, dolphins, or whales. So when I tell them I am studying zooplankton, the question I get most often in response is … of all organisms in the ocean, why zooplankton?
To be honest, zooplankton is not what I always thought I would love to study as a kid, but the more I learn about it and see it firsthand, the more fascinated and captivated with it I become. Not only are zooplankton an integral part of the marine food web and include the next generation of marine organisms in their larval form, but they are also extremely diverse, with more complex body structures and brilliant coloration than you would ever expect. Peering into the microscope at a zooplankton sample straight out of the ocean is like having a window into a secret world. This living part of the ocean is often overlooked by everyday people
Chaetognaths, also known as arrow worms, are voracious predators and have really menacing jaws! (Photo Credit: Noelle Notarnicola)
One of my personal favorites to see is chaetognaths, also known as arrow worms. They are predatory worms and have these really menacing jaws! Another favorite and a big hit with the science party and ship’s crew on this trip are the sapphirinids, which are a type of copepod, that shimmer purple, green, and blue and make the cod-ends of the net look like it is filled with glitter. Many of the Calanoid copepods also have pretty pigmentation and it is always fun to see the various fish larvae that end up in the samples too.
A favorite of the scientific party in our MOCNESS samples are sapphirinids, a type of copepod that shimmers purple, green, and blue and make the cod-ends of the net look like it is filled with glitter. (Photo Credit: Noelle Notarnicola)
To collect this zooplankton, I have been using the Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS). My relationship with the MOCENSS is only 3 weeks old but it has been an interesting journey in such a short period of time. I started Leg 1 with zero field experience with the MOCNESS and was nervous about getting it up and running and in the water successfully collecting samples. The first deployment, towing, retrieval, and processing of samples took me about 6 hours! Three weeks later and with 8 tows under my belt, I was able to do all of it with the help of the other FAU students onboard in 3.5 hours. It was an interesting and quick switch from being the person who needed step-by-step instructions to turning around and going through the process on my own and instructing the other students on what to do and how to assist. Thankfully Jim Lovin of the University of Miami is a wealth of knowledge (and very, very patient!!) or I would not have come so far so quickly.
It has been a strange sort of juggling act out here being both a student and the person in charge of the night shift and MOCNESS tows. I was initially pretty intimidated by the task, but I jumped right in and now feel more comfortable with the MOCNESS and the decision-making than I thought possible. I thought I was doing a decent job, then got confirmation during a random conversation with Andy David who is a Research Fisheries Biologist with NMFS, while on deck. During this conversation, Andy asked me who the students were onboard. I listed the 2 other students and then said myself. He looked at me a bit taken aback and responded “You are a student? I thought you were the person in charge!” It was nice to know that my role transition from student to night operations lead was pretty seamless and I was not just running around like a clueless, crazy person! But Andy was correct; I am the person in charge of the MOCNESS and the dual role playing has been an awesome, strange, stressful, and exciting experience! I came in nervous and unsure, but think I have accomplished a lot more than I ever expected to and have some wonderful samples that I cannot wait to sort through back in the lab.
I have learned so much these past 3 weeks, and I know for sure that this trip will make me both a better student and scientist in the future. I am so much more than grateful for this experience and opportunity and I hope to someday meet the MOCNESS again in the future!
Want to know more?
See: https://flosee2.wordpress.com/page/2/ to read Noelle’s blog from Leg 1 of our 2011 Florida Shelf Edge Exploration (FLoSEE II).
FLoSEE 2011 Expedition Blog 