Santiago de Compostela, Friday, 15 September 2023. Staff from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), through the Institute of Marine Research (IIM) and the Balearic and Vigo Oceanographic Centres of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), took part in a study led from UVigo on bioturbulence on the coast of Bueu. The results, published in Nature Geoscience in 2022, have received the Ig Nobel Prize, awarded by the journal Annals of Improbable Research to recognise research that “first makes people laugh, and then makes them think”.
The study shows how fish movements during spawning and fertilisation can generate turbulence that contributes to the mixing of water and nutrients on the coast. The work was carried out during the Remedios project campaign, on board the R/V Ramón Margalef, while studying the origins of the high productivity of the Galician Rías Baixas.
The research had already shown that the role of swimming organisms in the distribution of heat, nutrients and oxygen in coastal waters may be more important than previously thought. The award highlights the originality of a study that links animal behaviour with physical oceanographic processes.
The Ig Nobel Prizes, now with 33 editions, celebrate unusual research that attracts attention and stimulates reflection. In this case, the award recognises work that helps to understand how life itself can contribute to mixing the ocean.