Tourists to Antarctica are fueling research on some of the tiniest, most influential organisms on Earth: phytoplankton. These itty bitty critters make their own food and are the base of the food web in most of the ocean, but tracking how well they're doing is historically tricky. So, researchers with the program <a href="https://fjordphyto.ucsd.edu/">FjordPhyto</a> are using samples collected by these tourists to understand how the balance of power in the Antarctic food web <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1139293/full">could be shifting</a> — could ripple across the food web of the entire ocean. Want to hear more community science at work or about polar ecosystems? Let us know by emailing <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org">shortwave@npr.org</a>! We're also always open to other story ideas you have. <3 Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/shortwave">plus.npr.org/shortwave</a>. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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