Small fish, such as anchovies that are 2-40 cm long, play a significant role in so-called ocean mixing. Researchers detected extremely high levels of turbulence every night, similar to those caused by a major storm, even though the weather that week was calm and the tide was weak.
Researchers identified the presence of the fish as the cause of this "storm" after they caught in their nets thousands of tiny fish eggs, probably of European anchovies. The researchers believe that the unique observation is related to the physics of eddies and the specific vertical variations of water properties in the study area.