Zooplankton are often considered to be a passive source of food for fish and other aquatic animals. But at least one of their representatives, the millimetre-sized copepod (Eurytemora affinis), moves purposefully in turbulent water with “jumps.” This fact was discovered by a team of researchers led by Markus Holzner, holder of an SNSF professorship at ETH Zurich. “These jumps enable the plankton to hunt their prey and the males to catch a female,” explains Holzner.