Average chlorophyll concentration in the surface ocean (from mi-September 1997 to August 2007) from the ocean color sensor SeaWiFS (NASA). Subtropical gyres, in the center of the oceanic basins, are characterized by very low concentrations of chlorophyll a (dark blue) - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)
Jellyfish Pelagia noctilica (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Gelatinous plankton salpes and Beroe (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Sea Urchin - Planktonic Origins
Barely visible to the naked eye, sea urchin larvae grow and transform into bottom-dwelling urchins.
Dinoflagellate Ceratium extensum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Squid larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Ctenaria Eucharis multicornis (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Les Diatomées - Bacillaria
Colonie de diatomées du genre Bacillaria dont les individus peuvent glisser les uns par rapport aux autres.
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Prélèvements d'eau des mésocosmes pour analyses, lors de l'expérience menée en Corse en juin/juillet 2012 (© A. Ree, PML)
Ocean color satellites travel around the Earth at an altitude of about 700 to 800 km.
Instrumented buoy (Photo : Emilie Diamond)
Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni
Diatom genus Cylindrotheca (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Squid larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Plankton
Plankton are a multitude of living organisms adrift in the currents.Our food, our fuel, and the air we breathe originate in plankton.
Scientists collecting seawater samples from the rosette (Photo : Stacy Knapp, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
