THIS POST HAS TWO PARTS: One is a terrific video about giant larvaceans, deep seazooplankton, featuring a cast of many other deep sea denizens and a terrific jazz piano score (It’s from the estimable folks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, naturally).
Then there’s the article from the quarterly science magazine Cosmos, focusing on research on giant larvaceans’ role in sequestering carbon in their “mucus houses” – yes, “mucus houses” – and sending it to the sea bottom far below. In fact, they’re the best at it among all plankton.
Giant larvaceans are, incidentally, “giant” because they’re about the size of your pinky finger, which makes them giant by zooplankton standards. You’re not likely to see them on a recreational dive.