NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker – Page 11 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

April 20, 2017April 20, 2017

Mark Wolfgang: What Does It Take? April 18, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Mark Wolfgang

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

April 11 – April 22, 2017

Mission: Spring Coastal Pelagic Species (Anchovy/Sardine) Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean

Date: April 18, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Lat: 36^o 52.3’N Long: 121^o 53.9’ W

Temperature: 12.62^oC (54.7^oF)

Wind speed: 4 knots (4.6 mph)

Barometer: 1016.96 mbar

Conditions: Blue skies with a few clouds, smooth seas

Scientific and Technology Log:

I have been blessed to work with a great science team and I hope I have been helpful. There is a mixture of talents and strengths, but a common love for the oceans. Since there is always a need for reliable data, the entire team does their job with precision.

4.16 Otolith12 — Fishery biologist Bev Macewicz teaches me to remove the otilith from an anchovy

I have enjoyed my conversations with them as we wait to get to a trawl location or for the nets to come in. There are all possible careers available on the oceans. From the NOAA Corps of officers, to the deckhands and fishermen, to the guys who work in the acoustic labs, to the engineers that make sure the ship is running properly, to the chief steward and second cook, to the science team, there are so many different potential careers if you love a life at sea. I interviewed a few members of my science team.

Sue Manion, Chief Scientist:

Chief Scientist, Sue Manion, watches the deployment of a bongo net.

Sue has a B.S in Fisheries Biology from Michigan State University and worked with an aquaculture program with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. When she was in elementary school, she loved the outdoors and animals, both domestic and wild. She
always knew she would become a wildlife biologist. Her first position with NOAA was a temporary job as a Marine Mammal observer on a tuna fishing boat. Sue told me that she loves the outdoor, physical work and never imagined she would get a permanent position as a sea-going fisheries biologist on the ocean.

Favorite part of the job:

“The most enjoyable part of my job is the outdoor, physical work.”

Dream job:

“I would be raising horses and running a wildlife sanctuary.”

I asked Sue, what advice would you give to a student who wanted to pursue a career in marine sciences?

“Take all the science, math, computer, and writing classes available. Learn all you can about working with hand tools and small electrical tools.”

Ed Weber, Research fisheries biologist

Ed has a B.S in Biology from the University of Michigan, M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from New Mexico State University, and a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. Ed told me he knew he wanted to do some type of

Ed Weber preserves specimens collected from a pairovet

biology work, but never considered a career in academia and became interested in fisheries after doing a work-study position at the USGS Great Lakes Science Center. Most
of his experience was with freshwater fisheries and he never expected to be working in oceanography. He was hired because of his skills in statistical analysis and programming and is “still learning a lot of oceanography.”

Favorite part of the job:

“I like the days when I finish an analysis and go home feeling like I know something that I didn’t know the day before, and neither did anyone else. Most of these are very small incremental research advances that won’t change the world, but it’s still a lot of fun.”

I loved his advice for interested students:

“I think the most important and valuable skills are those that make you a good scientist in any discipline. I suggest early-career scientists focus on critical thinking, the ability to read and synthesize information from a variety of sources, and the ability to write well. Specific tools and techniques can always be learned later. A final piece of advice is something I learned by example from one of the best fisheries biologists I know. That is to approach research with a sense of humility. Never hesitate to admit what you do not know, even if you become a world expert in your area. Then go out and find the person who does know and ask that person about the problem. An honest and humble approach to science will make you a much better than you might have thought you could be.”

Personal Log:

I think I am finally “getting my sea legs.” I am not referring to sea sickness or getting around the ship. The last few days, I committed myself to experiencing as much as I can since my time aboard the Reuben Lasker is ending. I have had a lot of moments where I looked around and smiled because I never thought I would experience something like this. I hoped for a little more biodiversity in the trawls, but that is science field work. You get the data that you get. As I was sorting through seemingly endless pyrosomes, I had to take a moment and realize all that I have seen. I saw fish and marine invertebrates I only have read about. I saw a drone take off from a ship (I will share more about that later). I saw humpback whales swimming in pods from the bridge. I saw Pebble Beach golf course from the ocean. How many teachers get that opportunity? I am a lucky guy and am committed to “soaking it all in.” I am looking forward to seeing my family soon, but I will live for each day.

Did you know?

Phronima is a genus of amphipods that live throughout the world’s oceans. These semitransparent animals attack salps. They use their mouths and claws to eat the animal and hollow out its gelatinous shell. The females enter this cavity and lay their eggs inside. Phronima propels the salp through the water as the larvae develop which provides them fresh food and water. Hollywood used this animal as the model for the queen alien in the 1979 science fiction horror film, Alien.

April 17, 2017April 17, 2017

Mark Wolfgang: Fish Eggs, I Will Take Mine Over Easy; April 15th, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Mark Wolfgang

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

April 11 – April 22, 2017

Mission: Spring Coastal Pelagic Species (Anchovy/Sardine) Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean

Date: April 14, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Lat: 35^o 47.1’N Long: 122^o 58.8’ W

Temperature: 14.9^oC (59^oF)

Wind speed: 29 knots

Barometer: 1020.92 mbar

Conditions: Windy, blue skies with a few clouds, choppy seas

Scientific and Technology Log:

The research into the fish that live in this area of the Pacific Ocean investigates the entire life cycle. The night trawls will usually catch adults or juveniles. There are other techniques to collect eggs and larvae. One of these techniques is a Continuous Underway Fish Egg Sampler (CUFES).

The Continuous Underway Fish Egg Sampler (CUFES)

There is an intake valve 3m under the surface of the water and it is collecting water (and anything living in it) all the time. As the Reuben Lasker moves along a transect water is collected through this machine and filtered. Every 30 minutes, the specimens that have been collected are removed, counted, and identified under the microscope. The samples are then rinsed into small vials, preserved in formalin and are labeled and stored. On this survey, they are looking for sardine, anchovy, jack mackerel, hake, and squid eggs. The sample also has numerous copepods, but those are not counted and recorded. So far, we have found mostly jack mackerel and squid eggs which are reflected in our catches during the night trawl.

A second technique involves nets dropped off the side of the ship. The first is net called a

Deck hands and the chief scientist deploying the pairovet from the side station

pairovet. A pairovet is a vertical plankton tow. The net is dropped off the side of the ship
to a depth of 70 meters. The net stays in place for 10 seconds and then are pulled back up. The specimens collected are rinsed into containers. One net’s collection is placed in formalin, a preservative, for later identification, while a second net’s collection is placed in ethanol for possible DNA analysis. The other net is called a Bongo Net. This net is an oblique tow and is dropped to a depth of 210 meters and is pulled in at an angle of 45^o. The contents are preserved for later identification and possible DNA testing. The pairovet has a finer mesh to the net, so it collects smaller zooplankton and icthyoplankton.

The Bongo net being lowered into the waters off of Big Sur

The trawls on the night of the 12^th had some Jack mackerels, some larger squid, a couple octopi, and a single sardine. For the Jack mackerel and sardine, we recorded their length

and mass. We also took tissues for DNA analysis as well as the gonads for female sardines, anchovies, Jack mackerel, and Pacific mackerel. These will be used for histology and fecundity studies. Fecundity is the ability to produce an abundance of offspring or their fertility. We remove a small, hard structure called the otolith. The otolith is found in the inner ear and maybe used for balance. The otolith can be used for aging the fish. We had high winds on the 13^th, so we were only able to one trawl. Ironically, we watched “Finding Dory” while we waited for the bridge to say it was safe to let out the trawl nets. We didn’t find her.

Personal Log:

It has been quite challenging changing my sleeping schedule. Not only am I all screwed up with the 3 hour time difference from home, I am currently working the night trawls from 6 pm to 6 am, although the heavy work doesn’t begin until after sunset. I was awake for 28 hours straight, but was able to get some sleep and relax some this afternoon. I got a chance to call home and talk to my family. It has been difficult being away from them and not getting a chance to talk, but I had that opportunity today. For that I am thankful. There were some plans to fly the drone when we arrived at the coast of Big Sur, California, but the winds were too high to do so. I continue to be impressed with the scientists and crew. I love watching the team work – it is quite impressive. As we moved up the coast today, I took a few minutes to look around and soak it all in. Big Sur was beautiful, the sky was clear with only a few clouds, and the water was a deep rich blue. It was gorgeous. I am so glad I took a moment to realize how lucky I am.

Did you know?

The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean in the world. It contains 30% of the space in the earth and contributes half of the water to the world. It is also the deepest ocean in world, counted at 3800 m. I am currently traveling through the Northern Pacific Ocean.

April 13, 2017April 14, 2017

Mark Wolfgang: First Impressions, April 12, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Mark Wolfgang

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

April 11 – April 22, 2017

Mission: Spring Coastal Pelagic Species (Anchovy/Sardine) Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean

Date: April 12, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Lat: 35^o 21.1’ N Long: 121^o 26.9’ W
Overcast, rainy with quite a bit of fog
Temperature: 14^oC (56^oF)
Wind speed: 9.26 knots
Barometer: 1015.17 mbar
Visibility: Very limited

TAS Mark Wolfgang 4-13-17 Mark on deck — TAS Mark Wolfgang on board NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker, passing under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge

Scientific and Technology Log:

Last night/this morning, we did our first two trawls. These two trawls were kind of “blind” because they had not started doing acoustic trawls. I think I am starting to get the hang of how things happen during a trawl, which I know will be put to the test tonight.

TAS Mark Wolfgang 4-13-17 pulling in net v2 — The deck crew reels in the trawl net

As the net is pulled in, a team goes out and removes the camera from the net. The camera is used to monitor the net during the trawl, as well as monitoring the MMED (Marine Mammal Excluder Device) which records animals and their condition as they encounter the metal bars and are excluded through the opening in the top portion of the net. The deck crew continues to pull in the net. The organisms collected in the end of the net are put into buckets and brought into the wet lab. The first trawl had a small sunfish in the catch, but I missed it because I was putting my foul-weather gear on.

TAS Mark Wolfgang 4-13-17 market squid — Contents of the trawl (mostly pyrosomes and market squid) on the sorting table

The organisms are dumped onto a table and sorted. After sorting, the organisms are put on the scale and the mass is recorded. The number and type of fish were recorded. Both trawls had mostly pyrosomes (a colonial tunicate) and market squid. I have taught about tunicates in my zoology class, but never knew they were so common in the Pacific Ocean. Other than the pyrosomes and squid, the two trawls contained some lantern fish, several red pelagic crabs, and some other very small fish as well as a moon jelly.

Since we had no sardines or anchovies to process, we focused our time on the market squid. A random sample of 50 squid are taken. For each squid, we measure the length of the mantle, place the squid on a balance and record the mass. If the squid were larger than 75 mm, the squid was given a tag and placed in a bag. The squid smaller than 75 mm are all placed together in a bag.

Measuring squid

Weighing squid

It was impressive how all team members got right to work and functioned like a well-oiled machine. I am also impressed with how all individuals think of safety first. Starting at sunrise, they began doing acoustic trawls, so we may have better luck catching sardines and anchovies tonight.

Personal Log:

I have enjoyed my first days on the Reuben Lasker. The crew and science team have been very accommodating and welcoming. I am trying to be helpful and not get in the way. My roommate is a UAS drone pilot, but the weather has not been good enough to fly today – it is quite foggy and rainy and the seas are choppy. I hope I get a chance to see it fly sometime soon. I am trying to get used to the sleeping schedule and since I couldn’t sleep this morning, I took a little tour today and went to the bridge and spoke to some of the crew on the bridge as well as the Commanding Officer (CO). They showed me around a little and described some of the different navigational equipment. The chief electrician showed me around the computers in the acoustic lab. It is crazy to see all of the technology and to hear about how they handle all of this data with limited internet access on the boat. I am so pleased that everyone was been so friendly. The food has been great (we had an incredible crème brulee last night) and I have not been sea sick so far.

Did you know?

Pyrosomes are colonies of hundreds of individuals known as zooids. These zooids are joined by a gelatinous tunic and work in unison to propel the colony through the water.

April 3, 2017

Christopher Tait: Where am I? April 1, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Christopher Tait

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

March 21 – April 7, 2017

Mission: Spring Coastal Pelagic Species Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean from San Diego, CA to San Francisco, CA

Date: April 1, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge

Time 8:51 PDT,

Current Location: South West of Santa Rosa Island, Latitude 33.37N Longitude -120.7 W

Air Temperature 13.4 ^oC (56.1 ^oF)

Water Temperature 13.1 ^oC (55.5 ^oF)

Wind Speed 12 kts

Barometric pressure 1013.98 hPa

Science and Technology Log

Oceans cover 71% of the surface of Earth and 99% of the livable space (Figure 1). The Coastal Pelagic Survey is taking several approaches to map the distribution of anchovy, sardine, and other target species within the epipelagic zone. This zone is the thin surface layer extending to the depths light penetrates the ocean, which is approximately 200 meters near California. The epipelagic zone in some coastal areas is very productive due to the upwelling of nutrient rich water causing an abundance of primary production by phytoplankton. Besides the net trawling and acoustic transects, the researchers are using samples of fish eggs and ichthyoplankton (ichthyo = fish, plankton = drifting) to determine locations of spawning. This voyage is mostly surveying over the continental shelf and I am amazed at the diversity of organisms we have found thus far. In this modern era of exploration of the vastly unknown deeper regions, I can only imagine the species still to be discovered!

Figure 1: Ocean Layers

Ocean Layers.png

CUFES:

A CUFES (Continuous Underway Fish Egg Sampler) system is used to determine the location of fish eggs as we travel transects on a continuous daily basis (Figure 2). Water from 3 meters below the surface is pulled into the boat at 640 L/min. and poured through a filter to collect fish eggs and other plankton. The collected samples are analyzed every 30 minutes to determine a density of eggs and which species are spawning. The collected samples are further analyzed at NOAA’s SWFSC (Southwest Fisheries Science Center) in La Jolla, CA.

Figure 2: CUFES Schematic

Figure 3: Preliminary Results of CUFES Survey

CUFES Eggs.png — Preliminary results of the CUFES survey. The CUFES data is overlaid on sea surface temperatures measured by satellite.

The CUFES data is overlaid on sea surface temperatures measured by satellite.

PairoVET Tow & Bongo Tow

A PairoVET (paired vertical egg tow) sample is collected using a pair of small, fine mesh nets dropped to 70 meters deep and vertically towed to the surface to collect fish eggs and zooplankton in the water column at predetermined locations along our transects every 20 nautical miles. This is generally the depths that sardine release their eggs. The Bongo net gets its name because the nets are the size of bongo drums (Figure 4 & 5). This is a plankton tow that is pulled alongside the ship and occurs every 40 nautical miles. The net is dropped to a depth of 210 meters and pulled up at a 45 degree angle to get a more complete sample of the ichthyoplankton and zooplankton throughout the water column at location.

Figure 4: Bongo net in center of image and PairoVET on the right.

Figure 5: Bongo going overboard.

Figure 6: Preserving the Bongo Sample for later analysis.

TAS Chris Tait preserves the Bongo Sample for later analysis

CTD: Conductivity, Temperature and Depth Probe

The scientists use a CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) probe to measure the physical properties of the seawater throughout the water column that biologic samples are being taken (Figure 7). Conductivity is used to calculate the salinity of the water. These physical properties are very important in determining the types of organisms that are present at varying locations.

Figure 7: CTD (Conductivity Temperature Depth) Analysis

Personal Log

One of the great mysteries of waking up is answering the question of “where am I?” After a long evening of trawling for fish and keeping an eye on where you are, you go to bed. Exhausted, the boat rocks you to sleep. When I wake up the first thing I do is, jump out of bed and run out onto the front deck. Some days, there is ocean for as far as the eye can see, some days a mysterious island (Figure 8) in the distance and sometimes there is the mainland (Figure 9)! I run to grab my phone when mainland is in sight to get a couple of phone calls out to family.

Figure 8: The mysterious island turns out to be Anacapa Island, which is part of the Channel Islands National Park. The waters surrounding the park are part of a national marine sanctuary.

Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands

Figure 9: Sunrise over Santa Barbara. Time for me to make a call home!

In the Dry Lab there is a computer with a map showing where we are currently located, a red track line showing where we have been and transect lines displaying where we will soon be (Figure 10). On our acoustic transects, we follow the parallel lines to mow the lawn and find the location of the CPS (coastal pelagic species) from their echoes. When we trawl, we break transect and go to places that showed promise in the acoustic backscatter.

Figure 10: Without tracking our location on the computer I would feel totally lost! The blue lines are where we plan to go, and the red lines show where we’ve actually gone.

Map of transect.png — Blue lines show where we plan to go, and the red lines show where we’ve actually gone.

Catch of the Day

As I get ready for my night shift, I feel this anticipation to discover what species we are going to find! Every day brings a new catch of the day!

Grey Smoothhound Shark (Mustelus californicus): This small coastal shark feeds on small invertebrates and fish.

Gray Smoothhound Shark (Mustelus californicus)

Needle Fish (Family Belonidae): This large needle fish is coastal piscivorous fish, meaning they specialize at eating other fish. They have a mouth full of tiny needle like teeth to prevent a slippery fish from getting away.

Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax): This is one of our target species on this survey. Anchovy have the potential to form massive schools and have a tremendous impact of the ecology of the California Current Ecosystem. They feed on zooplankton, provide food for other fish, sea birds, and marine mammals. They are also an important fishery which have the potential to be over fished if not properly managed.

Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax, top specimen) and Pacific Mackerel (Scomber japonicas, bottom two specimens): These two species are also part of the Coastal Pelagic Species community, which this survey are targeting. The sardine is another very important fish due to their ability to form tremendous schools, impacting plankton through feeding, providing food for larger predators, and they are a valuable fishery. Sardine populations have the ability to boom and crash, and the cause is still not fully understood. The Pacific mackerel is a species that has been populous at times of lower sardine and anchovy abundance.

Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax), top, and Pacific Mackeral (Scomber japonicus), bottom two

Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) and Pacific Mackeral (Scomber japonicus)

Close-up of Pacific Mackerel (Scomber japonicus)

Pacific Mackeral (Scomber japonicus)

Jack Mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus) and Larval Rockfish (Sebastes sp.): Jack Mackerel is another target species of the Coastal Pelagic Survey.

Jack Mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus) and a larval rockfish (Sebastes sp.)

March 29, 2017March 29, 2017

Christopher Tait: Suburban Wilderness, March 27, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Christopher Tait

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

March 21, 2017 to April 7, 2017

Mission: Spring Coastal Pelagic Species Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean from San Diego, CA to San Francisco, CA

Date: March 27, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge

Time 3:35 PDT,

Current Location: near San Nicolas Island, Latitude 33.3 N Longitude -119.2 W

Air Temperature 16.0 ^oC (59.5 ^oF)

Water Temperature 14.9 ^oC (58.6 ^oF)

Wind Speed 19 kts

Barometric pressure 1014.64 hPa

San Nicolas Island from the *Reuben Lasker*

Science and Technology Log

Acoustic Trawl

There is a lot of advanced equipment that is used to do a survey of fish that spans the coast of California. The Reuben Lasker has been fitted with state of the art echo-sounders (Figure 1), which send out pulses of sound that bounce off objects and return to the ship in the form of backscatter. Looking at the backscatter data you can create a profile of the water column and see a variety of organisms swimming beneath the ship. The target species for the research is the Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax) and Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax). The schools of fish are detected using a range of frequencies. Looking at graphical representations of these data, or echograms, you can see the bottom as an area with strong echoes and, at times, you can see an area of high-intensity back scatter higher in the water column such as a school of fish or an aggregation of krill or plankton (figure 2). This would be a school of fish, krill or other organisms. The geographic location of the school is marked for a return by the ship at night for collection using a trawl. To conduct a thorough survey, the ship travels back and forth between the coast and a predetermined distance out to sea across the predicted habitat of the target species (Figure 3.) Scientists referred to this as “mowing the lawn.”

Figure 1: Reuben Lasker Acoustic-Sampling Beams

Reuben Lasker Acoustic Sampling.png — ©2014 Oceanography, Volume 27, number 4, Zwolinski et al.

Figure 2: An example echogram, showing the seabed and various sound scatterers in the water column.

Echogram

Figure 3 : Survey Map of the Spring Coastal Pelagic Species Survey 2017

California Sampling Map.png

Scientist Profile:

The Cruise Leader, Kevin Stierhoff, is a fisheries scientist who works for the Advanced Survey Technologies group at NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) in San Diego, CA. Not only has he been effectively managing this complex science expedition, he has gone out of his way to make me feel welcome and a part of this scientific endeavor.

How did you become a NOAA scientist?

I earned a B.S. in Biology, a Ph.D. in Marine Studies, and completed several postdoctoral research appointments prior to getting hired by NOAA. The work that my colleagues and I do at the SWFSC is very interdisciplinary, and the variety of educational and research experiences that I’ve had prepared me become a researcher at NOAA.

What do you like best about your career?

I consider myself lucky to have a job with a variety of duties. Not only do I spend time in the office analyzing data, but I also get to spend time at sea conducting survey and collecting data. When I’m not using acoustics to study pelagic fishes that migrate between Canada and Mexico, I use remotely operated vehicles (ROVs, or undersea robots) to survey endangered abalone that live on rocky reefs in the deep sea. When I’m not at sea, I’m analyzing the data that we collected at sea to communicate the results of our work.

What advice would you give to a student who would like to follow a similar career path?

Increasingly, a research career in marine biology requires a graduate degree to allow for maximal career advancement. If possible, take some time after undergrad to work in a job related to your career goals. This will allow you to focus your interests before choosing a graduate program, or perhaps discover that you don’t actually like that career path (better to find out sooner than later!) or that you don’t require a graduate degree to do the job that really interests you (which will save you lots of time and money). Most importantly, choose a job that you look forward to going to every day.

Personal Log

It is dark out, but as I look down from high atop the ship through an open window from the bridge, the lights of Long Beach reflect on the placid expanse of ocean and I come to a great moment of reflection. One of the busiest ports in the world is just off in the distance and I am looking for marine mammals in this suburban wilderness. Beside the glow of humanity, nature continues on.

I have been mostly helping with analyzing organisms that came up in the trawl at night, so my work schedule has moved to a 6 pm to 6 am. I am struck by how hardworking, dedicated, and driven all members of this expedition are. The crew, scientists, and NOAA Corps collaborate to continuously run surveys 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I am enjoying working at night now even though it took me a few days to get use to all of the adjustments in my schedule. I particularly enjoy doing the marine mammal watch from the bridge. It gives you this aerial point of view of all the action the NOAA Corps expertly navigating the ship and coordinating operations, the deck crew masterfully deploying nets and equipment, and the scientists excitedly exploring the organisms we collect.

Catch of the Day!

Haliphron atlanticus – This strange creature is a gelatinous octopus, whose body resembles a jellyfish, but when you look close, you see eyes looking at you!

Octipus Gelatinous.png — Haliphron atlanticus

Boreal Clubhook Squid (Onychoteuthis borealijaponicus)

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) is the strangest fish I have ever seen! It is one of the heaviest bony fish, surprisingly from a diet high in jellyfish and salps. We caught a small and large sunfish.

TAS Chris Tait holds an Ocean Sunfish (*Mola mola*)

Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira): This fast looking fish hunts plankton at night near the surface.

Curlfin Turbot (Pleuronichthys decurrens): This juvenile flatfish rises to the water surface at night to hunt zooplankton. Flatfish have an eye that migrates from one side of their body to the other as they develop.