Musical Migration

This is the best song I have heard all year. (Thanks to i'm a chordata! for the shout out.) I might even go so far as to say it's the best song I will hear all year. What could possibly be more awesome than this beautiful, bluesy explanation of why animals in the ocean undertake vertical migrations?

This is the best song I have heard all year. (Thanks to i'm a chordata! for the shout out.) I might even go so far as to say it's the best song I will hear all year. What could possibly be more awesome than this beautiful, bluesy explanation of why animals in the ocean undertake vertical migrations?


It is okay for me to post this here, because squid are vertical migrators, too. They're just another step up the food chain from the phytoplankton and zooplankton Hannah is singing about.

A quick linguistic postscript (which I can assure you will not be nearly as entertaining as that song was): I knew someone once who had a pet peeve about "diurnal" versus "diel" migration. The two words do in fact have different meanings: diurnal refers to something that happens during the day, rather than during the night. It's the opposite of nocturnal. Diel refers to something that happens over a 24-hour period, including both day and night. It's a synonym for daily.

Therefore (goes the argument) the daily vertical migration of zooplankton (and other things) should be called diel migration. The problem is that there's already a large body of literature referring to it as diurnal migration. And though I am an English geek, it actually doesn't bother me! Because (goes another argument) the migration which is daily is also happening during the day, when these animals migrate from the surface down to depth.

So diel migration is also diurnal, and everyone is right.

Old NID
77316
Categories

Latest reads

Article teaser image
Donald Trump does not have the power to rescind either constitutional amendments or federal laws by mere executive order, no matter how strongly he might wish otherwise. No president of the United…
Article teaser image
The Biden administration recently issued a new report showing causal links between alcohol and cancer, and it's about time. The link has been long-known, but alcohol carcinogenic properties have been…
Article teaser image
In British Iron Age society, land was inherited through the female line and husbands moved to live with the wife’s community. Strong women like Margaret Thatcher resulted.That was inferred due to DNA…