Research
Scientific investigations aboard the ATOLL concentrated on one of the most important food chain transitions: the linkages between the early life stages of herring (Clupea harengus) and their principal prey, the copepods. A major hypotheses of fisheries ecologists is that the microdistribution of prey, the microturbulence of the ocean, or the retention conditions are normally not suited to allow strong year classes of fish to develop. In most years more than 99% of herring larvae do not survive. Occasionally however, physical and biotic conditions are favorable, larval survival is high, and large year-classes result. Research work at the ATOLL investigated the effects of small-scale dynamics on fish feeding and predator avoidance and their correlation to year-class strength.
Research questions investigated by students during courses and their thesis work at the Laboratory included: What are the effects of the natural light gradient on predator-prey interactions? How can the predator best see the prey without being seen? How does the focussing of small waves oscillating light regime influence camouflage and attack strategy? What are the influences of the different frequencies of microturbulences? How do such effects change at the moment when herring larvae join into schools? What role does the phenomenon of aggregation play? Do ocean physics create or alter organism-aggregations? Can the dynamics of aggregations effect ocean physics at the microscales? Are there effects of the surface waves? What are the distribution and dynamics of microbubbles caused by turbulences and gas-oversaturations? How can the organisms orient in respect to micro-gradients of the ocean physics? How do they survive in the direct vicinity of undulating anoxia and hypoxia? Why are eelpouts, sticklebacks and herrings so extremely successful in the Baltic while cod is not? What are the effects and functions of schooling for feeding and microscale-orientation? What is the behavior of fish in netcages and how much food is lost from the cages. The ATOLL mainly served as a test bed for the development and field testing of equipment such as developing ROVs that were to be used later in Antarctic expeditions, e.g. for in situ imaging of transparent organisms of krill size under the ice.
Read more about this topic: Antarctic Technology Offshore Lagoon Laboratory
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