In Norway with Geomar and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, we used a rosette with 12 Niskin bottles. The goal was to collect water by the reef we were studying in order to understand what kind of prey is feeding the coral.
“First the water was filtered on a 180µm mesh to retrieve the macrozooplankton…” said Magali Boussion, senior technician in the Ecophysiology team of the Marine Biology Department, Scientific Centre of Monaco “…and then re-filtered on GF/F filters to collect the mesoplankton. The plankton will then be analyzed for its natural ∂13C and ∂15N isotopic signature. The comparison with the isotopic signature of the coral tissue will help us to understand the type of prey on which corals are feeding.”
Photos © Geomar.
