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Cloud Shadows Drive Vertical Migrations Of Deep-Dwelling Marine Life, Melissa M. Omand, Deborah K. Steinberg, Karen Stamieszkin

VIMS Articles

Many zooplankton and fishes vertically migrate on a diel cycle to avoid predation, moving from their daytime residence in darker, deep waters to prey-rich surface waters to feed at dusk and returning to depth before dawn. Vertical migrations also occur in response to other processes that modify local light intensity, such as storms, eclipses, and full moons. We observed rapid, high-frequency migrations, spanning up to 60 m, of a diel vertically migrating acoustic
scattering layer with a daytime depth of 300 m in the subpolar Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The depth of the layer was significantly correlated, with an ∼5-min lag, …