Ocean-dwelling 'Gummy Bears' transport carbon, help atmosphere

Little barrel-shaped sea creatures, each resembling a line of transparent Gummy Bears, may be a key tool in fighting the greenhouse effect and global warming, researchers say.

In a recent study, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts observed these creatures, called salps.

The creatures emerge by the billions in groups and occupy as much as 100,000 square kilometres of the ocean floor, according to the scientists.

Salps feed on phytoplankton, a sea plant that absorbs carbon made by fossil fuels we burn.

When the salps defecate, it releases the carbon back into the ocean, the scientists say.

Researchers say the "hotspots" of salps may send carbon dioxide to a dead-end by transporting up to 4,000 tons of carbon a day into the sea and preventing it from re-entering the atmosphere.

A previous study showed that salps usually dive to 600 to 800 metres below the sea in the day and then back up to the surface at night: a process called vertical migration.

Scientists say that salps usually feed on the phytoplankton when they reach the surface.

Salp pellets can sink more than half a mile per day, according to the scientists.

The researchers also say when the salps die, they take the carbon down with them.

The researchers' study is published in a recent issue of Deep Sea Research.

Photography: MySpace

Source: Discovery Channel Reports, July 24 edition