Image

A Fish In Hand

Stony Brook University marine biologist Hannes Baumann holds a hatchetfish brought to the surface in a net trawl off the northeast coast of Japan in June. Baumann and 16 other physical, chemical, and biological oceanographers took part in a two-week cruise organized by WHOI’s Ken Buesseler to study the fate and impact of radiation released from the nuclear power plant at Fukushima after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. One of the questions the cruise hopes to resolve is whether radioactive isotopes are being passed up the food chain. Hatchetfish live in the deep ocean and migrate at night to the surface to feed on plankton and small fish. In turn, they also become prey for larger fish.(Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)