Marine Biology Commons^™

The Effect Of Marine Snow Particle Distribution On The Foraging Behavior Of Calanus Pacificus, Elena Beckhaus

Theses

Marine snow is a major component of the biological pump, through which carbon is exported to the deep ocean. The sinking of marine snow can be disrupted by organisms, including many species of zooplankton that ingest or break up aggregates. These processes can have important impacts on planktonic food web dynamics and carbon export. Marine snow can have vertically patchy distributions, occurring in thin layers, which may further affect interactions with zooplankton. In this lab-based study, we examined how the presence of a marine snow layer affects copepod behavior and ingestion.

We conducted a series of experiments in which copepods …

The Effects Of Density Gradients On The Distribution And Behavior Of Copepods, Connor Cayson

Theses

Observations of fine-scale behavioral dynamics of zooplankton may shed insight into much larger-scale ecosystem patterns and phenomena. Some zooplankton, such as copepods, are known to aggregate near density gradients; however, it is not clear the extent to which density gradients alone affect copepod distribution and behavior, since these gradients are often associated with phytoplankton layers. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Calanus pacificus in response to salinity gradients through laboratory experiments observed with high-resolution video and analyzed using computational techniques. Image data were collected using two cameras recording continuously for a duration of 30 minutes or more, allowing …

Bubble Stream Production By Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas), Megan Slack

Theses

Bubble stream production in belugas has been poorly characterized and its function is not well understood. I examined behavioral states when producing bubble streams (“bubbling”), and when bubbling calls, to determine whether bubbling was significantly associated with a particular call category or behavioral state. Using 19 hours of video and audio recordings collected over a two-day period, I quantified bubble streams of a 4-month old calf and an unrelated adult female housed together. Based on the overall activity budgets and pool of vocalizations for both animals, I calculated the expected counts of bubble streams with and without vocalizations, assuming that …