{"id":210,"date":"2019-11-13T21:56:34","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T21:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oceanblogs.org\/m159\/?p=210"},"modified":"2019-11-14T16:50:39","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T16:50:39","slug":"wildlife-at-the-high-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oceanblogs.org\/m159\/2019\/11\/13\/wildlife-at-the-high-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife at the High Sea in the Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the base of life in the open sea? This is a very complex question, because many factors and forces are at work in the high sea. But let’s start somewhere, maybe with the water itself… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upwelling regions are, in simple terms, a convergence of deep ocean currents bringing cold water, rich in nutrients, to the surface. These upwelling regions are good habitat for blooms of phytoplankton, which support zooplankton and many other marine life at higher trophic levels. For instance, the larvae of some species of mussels will look for good nutrient conditions to attach themselves to a substrate, and obviously start their new life cycle as mussels. In the topical Atlantic, there is an array of moorings called “Pirata”<\/a> with surface buoys that measure weather and climate conditions. Other than the scientific use giving to this buoy, the natural world has made a use out of it: a complete ecosystem has established itself around the buoy, and it probably all started with the attachment of algae and mussels’ larvae. In return, this attracted some fish to the area, which attracted birds, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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White goose barnacles (Pedunculata) attached to a Pirata surface buoy
Photo by Martin Visbeck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n