Battling polar winds, rough seas and sea ice, the University of Maine’s Emmanuel Boss and his colleagues sailed the Southern Ocean to study plankton, microscopic organisms that form the foundation of marine food webs.
These microorganisms, particularly the plant-like phytoplankton, have been producing about 50% of the world’s oxygen, and feed numerous species — oysters, crustaceans, seabirds and whales — that support marine ecosystems and economies worldwide. Greater plankton biodiversity is often associated with healthier and more resilient marine ecosystems.
That’s why Boss, professor of oceanography, spent 50 days from January to March investigating biodiversity in the Ross Sea bordering Antarctica. Aboard the Perseverance, a 131-foot-long aluminum schooner serving as a floating research platform, Boss sailed 7,200 miles between Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand. He and his colleagues deployed buoys with sensors to collect ocean and atmospheric data and harvest water samples as the boat wove past floating sea ice through high winds.
“With this data, my colleagues and I plan to develop a biodiversity algorithm that will link satellite observables with ocean biodiversity parameters assessed with genomic techniques,” Boss said. “Such data is critical to design and evaluate ecosystem models with, as well as assess the state of the ocean health.”
The total fuel consumption of the Perseverance during the 50 days voyage was about 20 tons, similar to that of a standard research vessel of the academic fleet in a single day. That’s because the ship utilized sails along most of its journey in the Southern Ocean.
Boss collaborated with scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique on his project and others throughout the voyage. Citizen scientists were also recruited to assist with the research.
Phytoplankton contain chlorophyll, which influences the color of ocean surface water. Different phytoplankton communities affect ocean color in different ways. Satellites can measure light reflecting off the ocean’s surface, allowing researchers to study ocean color remotely. Boss and his colleagues tested whether that information could be used to identify the types of species residing in various areas of the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean.
Some of the sensors used during the expedition measured light emanating from the ocean as influenced by phytoplankton communities as well as the optical properties of the water via instruments through which ocean water flows. The data from those instruments, as well as water samples that underwent genetic analysis in the onboard labs, were provided to NASA for comparison with satellite imagery collected during the expedition and for use to develop new space-based algorithms.
“Satellite observations are the only that can span the full planet in a matter of a few days,” Boss said. “Any link we can make between them and the state of the ecosystem, the better we can understand the living ocean on relevant time and space scales.”
Read more about the expedition on NASA’s website.
Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu
