Seafloor life
Several of MBARI's marine biologists study animals that live in or on the deep ocean bottom. Marine biologists Ken Smith and Jim Barry use ROVs, underwater cameras, and even a "benthic rover" to study the ecology of animals that live on the vast, muddy expanses of the deep seafloor. These studies are helping us understand how the animals in the deep sea get enough food to survive, and how their communities vary over time and at different depths.
Marine biologist Robert Vrijenhoek focuses his work on the unique animal communities that develop around deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the carcasses of dead whales. Similarly, Barry and other researchers study animals and microbes that live at "cold seeps", where ocean-bottom sediments contain large amounts of methane (natural gas). Barry has also collaborated with geologist David Clague to study deep-water corals and other animals that live on underwater mountains (seamounts).
Several MBARI researchers have also been involved studies of the effects of human activities on seafloor animals. Some of the human activities they have studied include the proposed disposal ("sequestration") of carbon dioxide in the deep sea, ocean dumping, laying of submarine cables, and deep-sea trawling. Barry is also studying how the increasing acidity of the oceans (due to increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) affects marine animals.
The ecology of deep-sea animal communities- Changes in the deep (Feature story)
- Midgets and giants in the deep sea (News release)
- Nurseries in the deep sea (News release)
- Pattern and dynamics of benthic soft sediment faunal communities (Researcher web page on variations in seafloor animals over time and at different depths)
- Benthic infauna (Researcher web page with photos of invertebrates that live in and on the sea-floor sediment)
- Abyssal time-series studies at Station M (Researcher web page)
- Logbook from PULSE 53 oceanographic cruise to study how algal blooms affect animals on the seafloor
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MBARI principal investigators in this field:
Ken Smith (Marine ecologist)
Jim Barry (Benthic ecologist)
Life at deep-sea hydrothermal vents- MBARI scientist uses genetics to study the evolution and distribution of hydrothermal vent animals (Feature story)
- New species of hagfish found near hydrothermal vent (News brief)
- Discovery of the "Yeti Crab" (Feature story)
- Ecology of deep-sea “weeds” (PDF file--Article from 2005 Annual Report)
- Population studies of hydrothermal vent invertebrates (Researcher web page)
- Logbook from oceanographic expedition to hydrothermal vents in the Fiji/Lau Basin
- Logbook from Alvin dives to hydrothermal vents on the Easter Microplate
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MBARI principal investigator in this field:
Robert Vrijenhoek (Evolutionary Biologist)
Life at "cold seeps"- When is a cold seep not a cold seep? (Feature story)
- DNA analysis shows how some deep-sea microbes limit global warming (Feature story)
- Scientists identify methane-consuming microbes from ocean depth (News release)
- Benthic biology - Cold seeps (Researcher web page)
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MBARI principal investigators in this field:
Jim Barry (Benthic ecologist)
Charles Paull (Geologist)
Robert Vrijenhoek (Evolutionary Biologist)
Whale falls- Weird worms of the deep (Feature story)
- Whale carcass yields bone-devouring worms (News release)
- Whale falls—islands of abundance and diversity in the deep sea (Feature story)
- Discovery of the bone-eating worms in the genus Osedax (MBARI 20th-Anniversary article)
- Logbook from oceanographic cruise to study a whalefall in Monterey Canyon
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MBARI principal investigator in this field:
Robert Vrijenhoek (Evolutionary Biologist)
Seamounts and deep-sea corals- Ocean expedition to explore ancient coral gardens (News release on 2006 Davidson Seamount expedition)
- Expedition to explore remarkable deep-sea mountain (News release on 2002 Davidson Seamount expedition)
- Old-growth forests of the deep sea (PDF file--Article from 2006 Annual Report)
- Logbook from 2006 Davidson Seamount expedition
- Logbook from 2002 Davidson Seamount expedition
- Logbook from oceanographic expedition to compare the biology and geology of seamounts off Southern and Central California
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MBARI principal investigators in this field:
Jim Barry (Benthic ecologist)
David Clague (Geologist)
Human impacts on seafloor animals- MBARI researchers speak out on ocean acidification (News brief)
- Life on the line—Studying the environmental effects of a seafloor cable (Feature story)
- Quantifying human impact on the deep seafloor (PDF file--Article from 2003 Annual Report)
- Weighing the biological and social impacts of carbon dioxide disposal in the deep sea (News brief)
- Researchers report on possible biological effects of deep-sea CO2 sequestration (News release)
- Scientists study the effects of carbon dioxide sequestration on deep-sea animals (News release)
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MBARI principal investigators in this field:
Jim Barry (Benthic ecologist)
Peter Brewer (Ocean Chemist)