Workpackage 5 aims to examine the
factors affecting scavengers feeding on jelly-falls. This is important as previous work has shown
that scavengers play a major role in utilizing and removing jelly-falls in the
benthic fjord environment. We will focus
on two research questions:
1. Are
scavengers deterred from consuming very large jellyfalls due to a high
concentration of noxious sulphides and ammonium released by decaying
jelly-falls?
2. What is the impact of organic food supply
on the scavenging of jelly-falls?
Findings will determine under which
conditions the removal of jelly-falls by scavengers are maximized. Understanding this in relation to
fish farms stresses will be particularly valuable to manage the placement of
fish farms to help minimize jelly-fall impacts.
The scavenger studies will be
conducted using a deep sea lander equipped with a Nikon D7100 SLR contained in
a deep sea underwater housing viewing a jelly-fall bait. The camera will take time lapse images of
scavengers feeding on the bait.
The scavenger camera
lander was assembled at IRIS to determine the appropriate camera settings and
also the image field of view within which the jelly-fall bait will be
placed. Some lander deployments will
use a large mass of jellies (10 – 20 kg) to simulate an extensive jelly-fall
event.
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