Biomechanics cruise

SIO 125 (Biomechanics of Marine Life) emphasizes the form and function of marine organisms by teaching students about the different types of biological materials that organisms are composed of, how these materials are used to build structures, how materials and structures are adapted to different environments, and how materials influence an organism’s behavior and ecology. This advanced undergraduate/graduate level course has been taught every year beginning 2015, each time including a one-day cruise that has proven to be especially rewarding to the students in the class and other participants. SIO125 is an upper-division EBE Core Course and elective for any UCSD Biology major, with an enrollment cap of 28 students. In addition to course students, there will be graduate student researchers, collaborators at SIO and UCSD Engineering, and experts in fish, invertebrates, and trawling. Any remaining space on the cruise will primarily be allocated to graduate and undergraduate students conducting research, as has been the case in previous years. The primary educational goal of the cruise is to recover and observe deep-sea animals from midwater and continental margin environments. This cruise provides a unique opportunity for students to observe and handle animals common in these extreme environments, and explore how animal form (materials and structure) is adapted to variable water conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature, pH, oxygen) and ecologies (e.g., pelagic, benthic, mobile, sessile). Additionally, animals will be brought back to SIO so that students can study these materials under a microscope and conduct mechanical testing on the biomaterials as part of the course. Specifically, groups of students will use an Instron mechanical testing device (available in the Taylor lab) to examine the mechanical properties of different animal tissues to illustrate how materials are characterized and how they support multiple animal functions by resisting various types of loading. The study of deep-sea animal materials will complement the study of intertidal animal materials to help students understand the link between animal form, function, and environment. This cruise will have the additional goals of introducing students to oceanographic research, demonstrating the different types of instrumentation used to study deep-sea organisms, including the Isaacs kid mid-water trawl and otter trawl, and providing at-sea experience for the diverse students who take this course.