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Jet-propelled Jelly

The image above shows a “jet wake” produced by a salp (also called a pelagic tunicate), a relatively common gelatinous animal in oceanic waters. Salps swim by jet propulsion, drawing water in through a front opening and ejecting the water out through an opening at the opposite end of the body. MIT/WHOI Joint Program student Kelly Rakow Sutherland studies the locomotion of these fragile plankton animals at the Liquid Jungle Lab in Panama. The jet wake in this image was made visible using a harmless green dye during a nighttime, open water scuba dive.
(Photo by Kelly Rakow Sutherland)