Salps are free-floating jellyfish that travel the oceans in long, stringy colonies. They prowl the waters searching for phytoplankton and can grow faster than perhaps any other animal. Salps are extremely energy-efficient, as they use the ocean water to propel themselves. Best of all? Their waste product helps the environment because it assists the ocean’s carbon cycle. And now ScienceDaily reports that scientists have discovered that “nature’s perfect little engine” is even more efficient than previously thought.

 

Salps range from one-half inch to five inches in length, but new evidence shows they can eat food that ranges in size from relatively small to huge. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say salps can eat a much larger and wider range of animals than once thought. This means they are more powerful and “hardier” than previously believed — and consequently, more efficient.

 

 

 

 

The salps, which function like mini-filters as seawater and food passes through them, act like vacuum cleaners in the ocean. They exist everywhere but are most common in the waters near Antarctica. And while other populations like krill are on the decline, salps seem to be increasing. It seems now we know why.