1
00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:04,120
Phytoplankton…tiny, mostly single-celled organisms

2
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:08,310
that live in the oceans, creating energy for our ocean’s ecosystems. 

3
00:00:08,310 --> 00:00:12,530
They’re eaten by zooplankton, slightly larger organisms 

4
00:00:12,530 --> 00:00:17,040
that make a daily trek from the ocean’s sunny upper layer to its pitch-black depths.

5
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,130
In this cycle, they drift through an important region, 

6
00:00:21,130 --> 00:00:25,340
a dimly lit middle ground between light and shadow…an area scientists call 

7
00:00:25,340 --> 00:00:29,630
the twilight zone.

8
00:00:29,630 --> 00:00:33,850
Enter the Export Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing, or EXPORTS project

9
00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:38,050
– a team of more than 150 scientists…from 29 different institutions…

10
00:00:38,050 --> 00:00:42,230
onboard two research vessels with a fleet of autonomous vehicles…

11
00:00:42,230 --> 00:00:46,460
traveling west from Seattle to study these phytoplankton. 

12
00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:51,180
The team, made up of researchers from NASA, the National Science Foundation, including

13
00:00:51,180 --> 00:00:55,400
the University of California- Santa Barbara, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

14
00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,650
and other university and agency partners, will deploy robotic explorers 

15
00:00:59,650 --> 00:01:03,910
and instruments from the two ships to study the diversity of plankton in the ocean.

16
00:01:03,910 --> 00:01:08,030
The ocean absorbs approximately 1/2 of the carbon dioxide

17
00:01:08,030 --> 00:01:12,260
from Earth’s atmosphere. Like plants on land, phytoplankton take in this carbon 

18
00:01:12,260 --> 00:01:16,570
and release oxygen. Their blooms can 

19
00:01:16,570 --> 00:01:20,720
be seen in images taken from space. As the phytoplankton die or are eaten

20
00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,230
by zooplankton, that consumed carbon is exported into the twilight zone

21
00:01:25,230 --> 00:01:29,230
zone and stored there. 

Understanding the diversity and makeup of plankton

22
00:01:29,230 --> 00:01:33,450
in the ocean can help scientists understand the role the ocean plays in consuming, 

23
00:01:33,450 --> 00:01:37,550
and sequestering, carbon from the atmosphere. 

24
00:01:37,550 --> 00:01:41,700
In turn, understanding this can give insight into the ocean’s carbon cycle

25
00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:46,067
and how it helps regulate our home planet’s changing climate.