A String of Salp in the Sea

Occurred on May 12, 2019 / California, USA

Info from Licensor: "This is called a salp. They are individual animals attached together that separate when the water is rich in phytoplankton. The salp strains the pumped water through its internal feeding filters, feeding on phytoplankton. Salp are one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom.

I shot this video in 40 feet of water under an offshore oil platform named Eureka, 8 miles off the shores of Long Beach, California.

Sinking fecal pellets and bodies of salps carry carbon to the sea floor, and salps are abundant enough to have an effect on the ocean's biological pump. Consequently, large changes in their abundance or distribution may alter the ocean's carbon cycle, and potentially play a role in climate change."