Summary
Some of the ocean’s most efficient swimmers, including jellyfish, salps, and siphonophores, move by expelling water in the form of vortex rings. These vortex rings are created by the systematic contraction and relaxation of their bodies. Colonial siphonophores have many small, flexible, jetting units along their body. These units can coordinate to produce multiple pulsed vortex rings at once, enabling efficient swimming and dynamic and complex directional control. Inspired by these systems, this project will explore how body flexibility and the coordination of multiple vortex rings lead to imp
