Embryos and larvae
Drifting in the currents, embryos and larvae perpetuate the species and are food for multitudes.
Corail profond : Pour un niveau d'acidité prévu pour la fin du siècle, une diminution de construction de son squelette de 50 % a été mesurée chez le corail d'eaux froides Lophelia pertusa. Les communautés coralliennes d'eaux froides abritent un grand nombre d'espèces. Une diminution de la croissance des coraux constructeurs par l'acidification des océans peut menacer l'existence même de ces édifices. © C. Maier, LOV
This video describes how to perform the Ludion experiment and explains the physical processes involved.
Gelatinous plankton salpes and Beroe (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni
Instrumented buoy (Photo : Emilie Diamond)
Larva of decapod crustacean (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Velella - Planktonic Vessels
Colonies of polyps transported by prevailing winds, velella drift at the surface of warm seas.
Dinoflagellés Ceratium massiliense var protuberans (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Scientists collecting seawater samples from the rosette (Photo : Stacy Knapp, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Amphipode crustacean (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium falcatum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Diatoms - Life in glass houses
Champions of photosynthesis, these unicellular organisms appeared at the time of dinosaurs.They produce a quarter of the oxygen we breathe.
Phytoplankton bloom observed in the Barents Sea (North of Norway) in August 2010 by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Aqua. Changes in ocean color result from modifications in the phytoplankton composition and concentration. The green colors are likely associated with the presence of diatoms. The shades of light blue result from the occurrence of coccolithophores, phytoplankton organisms that strongly reflect light due to their chalky shells - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium reflexum (Photo : Sophie Marro)