Microbes in the Western Pacific Ocean

When most people think of life in the sea, they think of animals such as fish, mammals (like whales and dolphins), crustaceans (like lobsters and crabs), squid, octopi, and they may also think of plants (like seaweed). However, much of the life in the oceans is in the form of very small organisms, too small to see with just the eye. These micro-organisms, or "microbes," can behave very much like animals and plants. Some can grow using sunshine like plants, and some microbes can eat those plant-like microbes like a rabbit eating grass. Likewise, some other microbes can eat those plant-eaters, like a wolf eating a rabbit. There are even viruses in the ocean, which can make the microbes sick and die. The amazing thing is that all of these things can happen in a drop of water, because the microbes are so small. And yet, the ocean is so very big, made up of many, many drops of water. It is hard for us to think about how many of those creatures are there, and what all they are all doing!

The purpose of our science voyage is to learn more about these microbes. We will study them on our trip from Hawaii to Australia in the Pacific Ocean. We will compare the microbes we see in the northern and southern hemisphere, and at the equator, and see if they are all the same or different at these different places. If they are different, we will do more tests to see why they may be different. Could it be because of different temperatures at these places? We all know polar bears are found near the cold North Pole, but it is too hot for them near the equator, so they don't live there. Could this happen to microbes as well? Maybe different types and amounts of food are also found at these different places, so some microbes may prefer to be at one place than the other?

We'll see!