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Will we be able to see plans, trains and automobiles generating the necessary power through the air they move in? Even, more interestingly, what if the by-product released would be beneficial for the environment?

There are already natural self-propelling mechanisms that do provide energy in such ways. It is a small, barrel shaped organism, which is apparently alike streamlined jellyfish, known as Salp. This particular organism receives all its required energy from ocean water. The most fascinating about this Salp is that scientists suggest that its waste material helps in eliminating carbon dioxide (CO2) found on the upper ocean and in the atmosphere.

It was Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) together with MIT that reported the half an inch to 5-inch-long creature (salp) energy capacity to be beyond previous expectations. It was published and revealed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that the ocean-dwelling salps use to capture and eat diminutive organisms and even larger ones – eventually this renders these tiny creatures extremely complex.

Laurence P. Madin, WHOI Director of Research as well as an investigator says that he has since long believed salps to be very powerful filter feeders present in the ocean. The current study revealed that these creatures could consume very small sized to large size sea-animals. In other words, they can practically consume a mouse to even a horse.

Phytoplankton (food particles) is captured by salps via an internal mucous filter net. Earlier it was believed that the creature could only capture particles equally to or larger than 1.5 micron-wide holes present in its mesh.

The recent study proposes that salps can capture food particles, which are even smaller according to Kelly R. Sutherland, PhD at the MIT/WHOI joint program for graduate student. In the current laboratory at WHOI, Sutherland, food particles in varied sizes were offered: smaller, equal to and larger than their mesh opening. It was found that more than expected of the smaller particles were consumed.

This information revealed to be very important as it describes why salps, are able to survive, singly or in chains of hundreds or even more, in the open sea. Madin, who was Sutherland’s advisor at WHOI said that larger food particles are relatively low in the open sea, and their ability to filter small particles help them to survive.

The interesting part is how salps help in recycling carbon dioxide. According to Madin, the very fact that they eat small and large particles and thereafter turn them into larger packed dense fecal pellets. These carbon-containing pellets are heavier and will thus much sooner sink to the sea bottom. Sutherland says that “This removes carbon from the surface waters,” and stocks it in the deep where it will not be seen for centuries.

Additionally, as carbon is stored in the ocean bottom, there will be larger space available on the upper ocean to support carbon; this will thus reduce the amount of carbon dioxide leveling up to the atmosphere. This was explained by Roman Stocker, who was a co-author and work at the MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Stocker said that the aggregation of particles, assembling small particles and slowly growing them, is the most important function of salps. The benefit of removing carbon dioxide on the upper sea level is that less CO2 gas will harm the atmosphere at large.

Recently, it was believed that small particles or cells were only consumed by protozoans, appendicularians and some specialised metazoan grazers. The ability of the salps to eat small bacteria and phytoplankton make them part of a team of organisms helping to clean the environment from greenhouse gases.

The carbon exchanging-role is impressive by these creatures. They act with their magical ability as a natural undersea engine. Moreover, Stocker says that salps are better vacuum cleaner than predicted. – The study was funded by WHOI Ocean Life institute and National Science Foundation –

Sources: Science Daily