Survey of Oceanography
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31PlanktontheDriftersb.pptxPlankton the Drifters
By John Van Leer
November 17, 2020
Phytoplankton come in many varieties. Since they are plants they all contain chlorophyll.
These phytoplankton are beautiful when seen alive under the microscope.
Diatoms reproduce by splitting and forming a new half. When conditions are good this might happen every day.
Dinoflagelates can move slowly by whipping their flagella. Many species are toxic such as red tide.
Copepods and euphausids are favorite foods of baleen whales.
Krill are dominant in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Radiolarians defend themselves with spines and slow their sinking rate with the extra drag from the spines.
Pteropods are among the many plankton which have shells that are vulnerable to ocean acidification.
Jellyfish are plankton, because they have very limited swimming capability. Many are bioluminescent.
Large jellyfish like the Portugeses Man of War have powerful stinging cells. They are also moved by the wind using their sails.
Some plankton are larvae of larger organisms which look nothing like their larval state.
There is constant movement between different forms of organic material.
Among the most abundant phytoplankton are ones covered with carbonate plates which are at risk from ocean acidification. They may even be seen from space.
Plankton net can have different mesh size depending upon the size of the organisms to be caught. Some are so small that Millipore filters are required.
