Surface chlorophyll a concentration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Embryos and larvae
Drifting in the currents, embryos and larvae perpetuate the species and are food for multitudes.
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Rosette used to collect seawater samples during a scientific cruise in the South Pacific Ocean. During the austral summer, the amount of chlorophyll a is so low that the water becomes deep blue, almost purple. (Photo : Joséphine Ras)
Jellyfish Pelagia noctilica (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Sea Urchin - Planktonic Origins
Barely visible to the naked eye, sea urchin larvae grow and transform into bottom-dwelling urchins.
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Jellyfish Leuckaztiara octona (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Foraminifera Orbulina universa and mollusk larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Larva of decapod crustacean (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Ctenaria Beroe ovata (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Ocean color satellites travel around the Earth at an altitude of about 700 to 800 km.
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Les Diatomées - Bacillaria
Colonie de diatomées du genre Bacillaria dont les individus peuvent glisser les uns par rapport aux autres.
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)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium furca (Photo : Sophie Marro)
