Mating anchovies stir up the sea as much as a major storm

Mating anchovies stir up the sea as much as a major storm

Source: theconversation

1/11/2024

Mating anchovies stir up the sea as much as a major storm

Credit: Bieito Fernández Castro, CC BY-NC-SA

Why would oceanographers ever care about anchovies having sex? We do because these small fish can help mix different layers of the ocean when they mate. This circulates nutrients, oxygen and greenhouse gases around different layers of the ocean, thereby sustaining the ecosystem.

Mixing layers of the ocean vertically requires energy. Most of this energy is provided by winds and tides. However, research that was conducted in 1966 found a mismatch between the energy required for mixing and the energy provided by available sources.