Currents

When you were a kid, did you ever see the ads for “Amazing Live Sea Monkeys” on the back of comic books? Did you ever bug your parents enough to order them and find out that “sea monkeys” were just some clever marketer’s way of selling dried brine shrimp eggs to kids? I did, and even though my sea monkeys eventually ended up in my brother’s hair during a fight, I don’t regret it. Brine shrimp are fascinating creatures even without being dressed up in fantasy. They’re also one of the most abundant and successful creatures in the seas, and scientists are just finding that their movements and the movements of other small marine organisma may have an enormous impact on ocean currents. The first trick you play with your “sea monkeys” is shining a flashlight into the tank. Brine shrimp follow the beam because they display phototaxis, which means they tend to move toward light. They do this in the ocean, too, coming up for more light at night