Theory 28/Stokes Number/Plankton
Encounters Follow Stokes
The claim
Copepod encounter rates with prey are set by the Stokes number of the prey, so a prey that follows the flow is harder to capture than one that crosses streamlines.
01Mechanism
Capture requires the predator's detection field to intersect the prey path; inertial particles deviate from streamlines and enter it more often.
02Prediction
Encounter rate should peak at an intermediate Stokes number.
03Refutation
Encounter tracking prey density alone would remove inertia.