First – Huge Illustration of Deep – Sea Food Webs

A comprehensive study has been conducted on deep – sea food webs. It was done using hundreds of video observations of animals captured in the act of feeding off the Central California coast. The study illustrated that the deep-sea jellies are main predators. It gives new information on interaction of deep – sea animals with life near the surface of ocean.

These deep – sea animals were under systematic studies for over 100 years. Still, scientists are keen to know more about what many of these animals eat. The first comprehensive study was documented by MBARI researchers Anela Choy, Steve Haddock and Bruce Robison. The collection of data by biologists is performed by collecting organisms, dissecting them and looking at the contents of their stomachs. The age – old approach of comparing the ratios of several chemicals in the flesh of deep – sea animals with ratios of these chemicals in their potential sources of food has been augmented by scientists.

By: Bhavna Sharma