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Spraying down copepods

Algae, ciliates, and other microorganisms get eaten by bigger creatures, like the zooplankton that WHOI biologist Phil Alatalo caught in his net. As part of the zooplankton team aboard the research vessel, Alatalo was studying how the changing sea ice affects the  Artic food web.  Here, he’s rinsing the catch down to the bottom. “When we conduct our grazing experiments with these animals, we know in the water there’s a tremendous potpourri of organisms,” he says. “We’ll see if they choose these juicy little ciliates.”
(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)