This is SeaTalk: Ocean News from the University of Delaware.

Penguins and polar bears might spring to mind when you think of the world’s polar regions. But some UD scientists are making trips to the Antarctic and Arctic to study the freezing water’s tiniest inhabitants. They’re conducting research on marine microbes, which are plants and animals that are so small more than a million of them can fit into just one teaspoon of seawater. The scientists are determining how the microbes grow in the extreme conditions at the ends of the earth. Knowing this information will help them better understand the role that microbes play in the environment’s natural cycles, as well as better predict the impact that global climate change would have on the ecosystem. This is SeaTalk, a public service announcement from the University of Delaware, the Delaware Sea Grant College Program, and this station.