The vertical migrators are thought to consume vast quantities of phytoplankton, says Dr Steinberg, which in turn are believed to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Expressed in human scale, the migration is the equivalent of walking 25 miles each way for breakfast, she says. By eating plant materials in the surface water at night and swimming downward each day, zooplankton potentially move a lot of carbon from the surface to the ocean depths. But all does not go according to plan this night. It's not a great harvest, admits Dr Steinberg, pointing to a few tiny shrimp-like krill and one translucent eel larva.
Sleep is, however, impossible.
Between holding fast to the bunk and scraping my stomach from the cabin floor, I conclude I've had only one worse night in my life - and that included hypothermia. For the love of science, I tell myself. Someone's got to do it.