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Copepods in the Dark

WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian studies how climate change is affecting the Arctic ecosystem, especially the abundant ocean zooplankton and including tiny crustaceans called copepods. The copepods pictured here (genus Metridia) were collected in the Bering Sea on Ashjian’s 2009 expedition and produced blue bioluminescence when poured onto a sieve. Ashjian is currently leading the first research cruise in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during the onset of winter, and her blog lets readers view this unique 44-day expedition as it happens. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)