Photo of the Week

We are excited to bring back our Photo of the Week section so stay tuned for new content coming soon! In the meantime, take a look at these fantastic pictures from our teachers.

Just what IS “plankton,” anyway? Does this small swimming crab count?

February 27, 2017
TAS ’15 DJ Kast found this swimming crab in a plankton sample collected off the mid-Atlantic bight.

Photo: DJ Kast

What are plankton? Plankton is a Greek-based word that means drifter or wanderer. This suits these organisms well since they are not able to withstand the current and are constantly adrift. Plankton are usually divided by size (pico, nano, micro, meso, macro, mega). In the plankton tows, we are primarily focused on the macro, meso and megaplankton that are usually with in the size range of 0.2- 20 mm (meso), 2-20 cm (macro), and above 20 cm (mega) respectively.
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15 photos for plankton · Clear

Don’t Forget the Phytoplankton!May 28, 2019Netting the Small StuffMarch 4, 2019This Tasty-Looking Ctenophore is called a “Sea Gooseberry”February 19, 2018It’s the Little Things in Life (like Plankton)October 9, 2017Just what IS “plankton,” anyway? Does this small swimming crab count?February 27, 2017Just what IS “plankton,” anyway? Does this small swimming crab count?February 27, 2017Hard to tell from here, but some of the plankton in this jar are really tiny larval fish– “ichthyoplankton.”February 1, 2016This is a close-up of the “cod end” of the bongo, where the plankton get funneled into.November 9, 2015At the NOAA lab in Pascagoula, scientist Jessica Kirkham sorts through and identifies icthyoplankton (fish) and invertebrates.October 5, 2015The Mola (or Ocean Sunfish) lies on one side just under the water’s surface and eats jellyfish.August 17, 2015This jar of copepods was collected using a bongo net and will be sent off for genetic analysis!May 25, 2015Salps are a colony of tunicates and are actually more closely related to humans than shrimp are!April 27, 2015
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