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Plankton are marine drifters — organisms carried along by tides and currents. Phytoplankton blooms in the Barents Sea, shown in natural color from NASA's Aqua satellite on July 10, 2014. The solid white area in the top right corner is cloud cover. Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory.
Most of the carbon is returned to near-surface waters when phytoplankton are eaten or decompose, but some falls into the ocean depths. There are many trillions of phytoplankton in the sea, and together they convert huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) into living matter.
Plankton, found in lakes, oceans, steams, and rivers, are the lungs of the planet. Tiny phytoplankton, magnified here, float near the surface of the water. They form the base of the vast...
Plankton can be found in saltwater and freshwater. One way to tell if a body of water has a large plankton population is to look at its clarity. Very clear water usually has less plankton than water that is more green or brown in color.
Many marine plankton are found in the deep waters of the outer ocean, or pelagic waters, whereas others are found in the shallow waters known as the neritic zone. Many of the neritic plankton are known as meroplankton, and spend only a brief period of their life cycle in the planktonic category.
Marine plankton are key components of marine ecosystems and form the foundation for life in the ocean. Plankton sustain marine food webs by being a primary food source and the energy they provide is transferred to higher trophic levels including fish, marine birds and mammals.
A group of organisms called the Plankton are amongst the microscopic beings found in the ocean. Plankton (from the greek word Planktos which means 'wanderer’ or ‘drifter’) get carried around by the currents / tides with no ability to swim against them.
Plankton, though minuscule, play a monumental role in the Earth’s ecosystems, particularly in the oceans. Here’s a deeper dive into their significance: As a Food Source. Plankton are the foundation of the aquatic food chain. They are crucial as a primary food source for a wide variety of marine organisms, from tiny krill to massive whales ...
Although seaweeds are also marine producers they are limited to coastal areas where the bottom (for attachment) is within the photic zone but phytoplankton can be found near the surface of the ocean all over the world (over 70 percent of the surface of Earth).Phytoplankton are the source of most of the primary production in the world's oceans ...
Each spring, as the Earth tips towards the sun, the increased light and warmth of the surface waters trigger a massive bloom of plant plankton, technically referred to as phytoplankton. The...