In chaos theory, the butterfly effect demonstrates how a small change in one place can result in large changes in another place. Now, physicists at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) in Pasadena have demonstrated that tiny creatures could play a large role in ocean currents.

Sea Monkeys, otherwise known as brine shrimp (Artemia salina) are tiny animals, maxing out at about half an inch in length. They do not, individually, cause much of a stir when they swim. However, the more brine shrimp there are the more the water moves and they sometimes do move in large groups. Brine shrimp, like most zooplankton, shy away from bright light, moving closer to the ocean surface at night and diving deeper during the day.

Caltech physicists Monica Wilhelmus and John Dabiri used lasers to guide a swarm of brine shrimp through a large water tank to induce vertical migration. A blue laser moved along the side of the tank to drive the creatures up and down, while a green laser above the tank kept them centered. The researchers mixed microscopic silver-coated glass spheres into the water and used high speed cameras in order to visually capture the impact of the creatures movement.

Previous studies have measured the currents created by a single animal, the researchers found however that the more brine shrimp there were the more powerful the swirling fluid forces.

“This research suggests a remarkable and previously unobserved two-way coupling between the biology and the physics of the ocean: the organisms in the ocean appear to have the capacity to influence their environment by their collective swimming,” said Dabiri in a statement.

Ocean currents are complicated systems. Currents are influenced by gravity, they are influenced by and have an influence on wind and weather. They redistribute salt through the water, which has an impact on water density which, in turn, has an impact on currents.

These most recent findings provide experimental support for a model proposed by Darbi’s group in a 2009 paper published in Nature which analyzed the impact of jellyfish on ocean mixing and suggest that living organisms could play a significant role in ocean currents, which has a strong impact on global weather.

“If similar phenomena occur in the real ocean, it will mean that the biomass in the ocean can redistribute heat, salinity and nutrients,” said Dabiri.

We may not know yet whether a butterfly beating its wings in Tokyo can cause a tornado in Oklahoma but a swarm of sea monkeys swimming in response to a bright day might.

The research from the CalTech group can be found in the journal Physics of Fluids.