Biological explorations in the mid-ocean realm: food webs, particle flux, and technological advancements

The ocean realm covers 99% of this planet by volume; therefore, it isnot surprising that models developed to predict cycles of biological productionlack rigor (Childress, 1983). Part of the uncertainty stems fromthe available base of oceanographic data. For decades, biologists haverelied on collections made with plankton nets and water bottles to obtainfundamental insights about the behavior, distribution and abundance of pelagic organisms. Information gained from this ship-based methodologyhas been important, but it lacks the dimension of direct observation(Hamner, 1977; Hamner et al., 1987). Submersibles overcome this constraintby providing in situ opportunities to distinguish where fauna areconcentrated and how they interact with their environment, their prey or their mates.