Phytoplankton bloom observed by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Terra in May 2010. The bloom spreads broadly in the North Atlantic from Iceland to the Bay of Biscay - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium extensum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Profiling float (Photo : David Luquet)

Ctenaria Lampetia pancerina  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Gelatinous plankton Mneniopsis  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Carte bathymétrique mondiale

Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)

Gelatinous plankton Pelagia and Ctenophores  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Jellyfish Pelagia noctilica  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)

Vue sous-marine d'un groupe de mésocosmes montrant la structure de flottaison en surface (© Stareso)

World ocean currents map

Large rosette sampler used in the "World Ocean Circulation Experiment". This rosette has 36 10-liter Niskin bottles, an acoustic pinger (lower left), an "LADCP" current profiler (yellow long tube at the center), a CTD (horizontal instrument at the bottom), and transmissometer (yellow short tube at the center). (Photo : L. Talley)

Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)

Ocean color satellites travel around the Earth at an altitude of about 700 to 800 km.

Copepode Sapphirina iris  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)