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Chain Gang

Salpa aspera, a jelly-like species of animal found in the Atlantic Ocean, can link into chains several meters long and comprised of as many as 80 individuals. These “salps” form massive blooms in the summer covering as much as 100,000 square kilometers and sinking about 4,000 tons of carbon into the ocean each day in fecal pellets. They spend their days submerged at 600 meters depth and their nights migrating to the sea surface before diving again. (Photo by Laurence Madin, Woods Hole Oceanograhic Institution)