Kelp rafts in the Southern Ocean: intercontinental travel for sessile and semi-sessile organisms.

Project aim

Can animals raft between countries on floating seaweed? We aim to answer that question using powerful genetic tools. We can tell whether gene flow is strong between populations of animals by comparing their mitochondrial DNA; this could show us whether animals from one species in New Zealand are isolated from individuals of the same species in Chile. If they are not isolated, how are they managing to maintain gene flow? We know there are many millions of clumps of floating seaweed in the Southern Ocean, and these might provide a means of intercontinental travel for a range of small invertebrates.