Kristen and Harry deploying the zooplankton net. The flowmeter is visible in the middle of the net hoop.
Every few kilometers we stop the ship to put our zooplankton net in the water. We want to see what kind of zooplankton (the main food for Xantus’ murrelets and Cassin’s auklets) there is in the top 50 meters of the water. In order to calculate how much water the net filters, we have a flowmeter hooked to the mouth of the net and we have a dive gauge that measures the temperature of the water and the depth of the water that the net travels through.
Harry spraying the net (and Kristen)!
Nina and Kristen with the cod ends that hold the catch.
Lots of copepods in this haul!
A chain forming salp! These animals live joined together in a colony.