Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a widespread phenomenon in aquatic environments. The primary hypothesis explaining DVM is the predation‐avoidance hypothesis, which suggests that zooplankton migrate to deeper waters to avoid detection during daylight. Copepods are the predominant mesozooplankton undergoing these migrations; however, they display massive morphological variation. Visual risk also depends on a copepod's morpholog...

The North Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016 (PMH), one of the most geographically-extensive and severe marine heatwaves on record, resulted in widespread and persistent perturbation of the Gulf of Alaska and California Current ecosystems. Negative effects of the PMH on marine mammals have been observed, but are not yet well understood. The endangered Steller sea lion Eumetopias jubatus is an important top predator in the Gu...

Protists represent the majority of the eukaryotic diversity in the oceans. They have different functions in the marine food web, playing essential roles in the biogeochemical cycles. While the available data is rich in horizontal and temporal coverage, little is known on their vertical structuring, particularly below the photic zone. The present study applies V4 18S rDNA metabarcoding to samples collected over three years in c...