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Marine 'jelly balls' can combat global warming
Published: November 19, 2008- Digg
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LARGE numbers of ‘marine ‘jelly balls’ that have appeared off the east coast of Australia could be part of the planet’s mechanism for combating global warming, scientists have said.
The jellyfish-like animals are known as salps, and feed on small plants in the water called phytoplankton (marine algae).
The plants absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the top level of the ocean.
Dr Mark Baird of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said salps were notoriously difficult for scientists to study in the laboratory and little attention has been paid to their ecological role until recently.
Baird was part of a CSIRO and University of New South Wales marine survey carried out last month that found an abundance of salps in the waters around Sydney. Scientists said their numbers were up to 10 times greater than when first surveyed 70 years ago.
Salps, which are transparent, barrel-shaped animals that can range from one to 10cm in length, are usually found near the ocean’s surface and, as a result, can be washed up onto dry land.
Their appearance in Australian waters is seasonal but scientists believe the increased numbers are a result of a strong East Australian current, which brings more nutrients to the surface waters for the algae that the salps prefer to eat. Different species of salp have been found in waters around the world and attention is now being paid to what effect they may have on global warming.
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