How tiny marine creatures drive ocean currents : The science of swarms is fascinating and it has to do with Physics of fluids. Remember fish, birds and all kinds of insects display swarming behavior (Air is also a fluid).

The small brine shrimp (remember sea monkeys?) Artemia salina may be responsible for influencing ocean currents, circulation patterns and even the climate. Read on to know more...

Tiny size but huge numbers : Each individual shrimp only generates the tiniest of currents, but when many shrimp swim in tandem, they generate a current that’s stronger than the sum of those created by each individual. When a larger group moves together, he says, they produce strong downward jets with swirling currents on the side says the study's author.

Physics : "This research suggests a remarkable and previously unobserved two-way coupling between the biology and the physics of the ocean," study researcher John Dabiri, a professor of aeronautics and bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology, said in a statement. "The organisms in the ocean appear to have the capacity to influence their environment by their collective swimming."

Influence : Usually, researchers credit the wind and tides for creating currents that mix the ocean's salt, nutrients and heat. In contrast, this study suggests that microscopic animals also influence currents. In a study published in 2009 in the journal Nature, Dabiri and his colleagues proposed that sea creatures such as jellyfish mix ocean waters, and ventured that even smaller organisms could do the same. This study offers evidence for their idea, at least in an aquarium environment.

Article link from +Popular Science : http://goo.gl/dTNLXe

Research paper AIP |Scitation: http://goo.gl/dKnYLU

Video link: Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Data of a Vertical Migration Experiment

Additional video link: Flow Field Measurement During Vertical Migration of A. salina

+Discover Magazine link: http://goo.gl/09iVnu

Livescience link: http://www.livescience.com/48069-sea-monkeys-swirl-ocean.html

More about the brine shrimp: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Artemia_salina/

Gif pic courtesy : http://goo.gl/8Y40SH (for illustration purposes only, not a brine shrimp). Brine shrimp on left from +Mother Nature

#science #scienceeveryday