 Studies utilize a great variety of organisms, but certain particularly useful and/or charismatic ones, such as mussels, squid, tuna, tunicates, sea urchins, and mudsuckers, have been the focus of continued research efforts.From 1963 to 1968, the station operated the research vessel R/V "Te Vega", which sailed the Pacific and the Indian Ocean undertaking various studies, most notably of the Deep Scattering Layer.Data from the twenty "Te Vega" research voyages are still cited today, and one reference work remarks that, "[a]lthough ships from several nations participated in the Indian Ocean Expedition, only one has contributed significantly to marine phycology, namely, the "Te Vega" [...]."