{"id":801,"date":"2025-10-06T15:13:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=801"},"modified":"2025-10-06T15:13:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:13:46","slug":"micromonday-tiny-bites-for-marine-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=801","title":{"rendered":"#MicroMonday: Tiny Bites for Marine Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a094ad9b594c&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a094ad9b594c\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-802\" style=\"width:1320px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-06-Calanus-Compressed.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that they are among the largest animals on the planet, it may seem puzzling that one of the <strong>North Atlantic right whale<\/strong>\u2019s key prey species is the tiny <em>Calanus finmarchicus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But: they really enjoy chowing down on these surprisingly filling copepods, which can be up to 60% body fat (seen above in this #MicroMonday snap). That makes tracking<em> Calanus <\/em>critical for understanding and predicting whale distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional models have relied on indirect proxies, like chlorophyll levels from satellites, to approximate <em>Calanus<\/em> abundance, but these often fail to capture the true complexity of whale foraging behavior. By using direct data on <em>Calanus<\/em> distribution and energy content \u2014 along with additional zooplankton prey species \u2014 researchers can build far more accurate models that reflect the whales\u2019 actual feeding needs and seasonal dietary shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This new modeling approach shows that <em>Calanus<\/em> is not just abundant, but a keystone prey species whose availability directly shapes whale movements and habitat use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigelow.org\/news\/articles\/2025-09-16.html\">Learn More about the Role of <em>Calanus<\/em> in Right Whale Distribution Models<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udcf8: Cameron Thompson, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Given that they are among the largest animals on the planet, it may seem puzzling that one of the North Atlantic right whale\u2019s key prey species is the tiny Calanus finmarchicus. But: they really enjoy chowing down on these surprisingly filling copepods, which can be up to 60% body fat (seen above in this #MicroMonday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[30,27,86,34,98,65,33,60],"class_list":["post-801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-oceans-potential","tag-forecasting","tag-gulf-of-maine","tag-megafauna","tag-microscopy","tag-modeling","tag-nick-record","tag-publication","tag-zooplankton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":803,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions\/803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}