Phytoplankton
An ocean of opportunity
Ocean experts explore the potential risks and rewards of ocean-based solutions to climate change
Read MoreMC&G Department Virtual Seminar: Examining the Biogeochemistry of Phytoplankton Stress from Enzymes to Ecosystems
Julia Diaz, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Sponsored by: MC&G Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom meeting: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/94496409234
Read MoreDoctoral Dissertation Defense of Thesis: A Metabolic Lens on Phytoplankton Physiology
Craig McLean, MIT-WHOI Joint Program Sponsored by: Academic Programs Office This will be held virtually. Join Zoom meeting: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMpcOuopz4sG9w2hmED7oSMw1V7mo1CKQK6
Read MorePapers Explore Massive Plankton Blooms with Very Different Ecosystem Impacts
Two papers explore the distribution and abundance of plankton and what conditions lead to big plankton blooms with vastly different potential impacts on the ecosystem.
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminar: Phytoplankton Responses to Physical Forcings at Different Scales: Case Studies in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Maine
Zhengchen Zang, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Zoom link: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/93291449405?pwd=cldNUmkzV1BkT2VUVytMcjdMMzIyQT09
Read MoreAOP&E Department Virtual Seminar: Diatom Hotspots Driven by Western Boundary Current Instability
Hilde Oliver, WHOI Sponsored by: AOP&E Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85882575533?pwd=b2dYOVFlclJPYnlsY3NhZGpleXBtUT09 Meeting ID: 858 8257 5533; Password: 2296Audio-only…
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminar: Fronts Implicated as the Missing Mechanism Driving Phytoplankton Variability in the Iron-Limited Subarctic NE Pacific
Amanda Timmerman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Sponsored by: Biology Department This seminar will be held virtually via Zoom. Join Zoom…
Read MoreLong-running plankton study to resume off of Maine
A long-running study of tiny organisms off New England is set to resume due to an agreement between scientific organizations. The survey, which originally ran from 1961 to 2017, will resume because of an agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, England.
Researching phytoplankton 2000 miles from shore aboard the R/V Atlantis
Don’t be fooled by phytoplankton’s microscopic size, the creature is among the most vital organisms for the ocean and planet’s survival.
Specialized camera system gives unprecedented view of ocean life
With still so much to learn about the planktonic creatures that support the marine food web, scientists with the Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) project have developed the In-situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS) to take better images of these microscopic organisms in their natural environment
Read MoreOases in Sea Ice Are Essential to Life in Antarctica
This video explains the key physical, biological and ecological processes in oases on the Antarctic icy coast — polynyas. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Delaware are trying to unveil crucial connections among the physical and biological components in the polynyas and to understand how the Antarctic ecosystem responds to changes in the large-scale environment.
Read MorePhytoplankton and Primary Production in a Changing (sub) Arctic
Michael Lomas, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Sponsored by: MC&G Department
Read MoreHow a Volcanic Eruption Set Off a Phytoplankton Bloom
Lava-driven nutrient fountains “could be a pretty important driver of phytoplankton ecology in the broader ocean,” said Harriet Alexander, a biological oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who was not involved in the latest study.
Minion robots in the Ocean Twilight Zone
Phytoplankton use sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, forming the base of the ocean food web. Phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton, which are eaten by other animals. Dead zooplankton and other particles become marine snow drifting in the ocean, but how much marine snow sinks below the sun-lit ocean surface? Scientists are developing a new device
that will follow marine snow into the ocean’s twilight zone.
The MINION is a small (2 Liters) inexpensive instrument. It is equipped with… cameras, seawater sensors, acoustic recorder, ballast weight. Once deployed, MINION will sink to the twilight zone and drift with currents.
Cameras on the side record the rate and quantity of particles falling through the ocean. Falling particles also accumulate on a clear glass panel. A camera on top will record the particle type and accumulation rate.
Similar images have revealed the twilight zone is a perpetual snowstorm, of organic debris. Particles such as this fecal pellet from a jellyfish-like salp are extremely carbon-rich. Pellets like this will sink quickly to deeper waters, or even become buried in the seafloor. Any marine snow that reaches the deep ocean means less carbon in the atmosphere.
The MINION is designed to listen for underwater sound sources. This will determine their location as they drift.
After a MINION has finished its mission, it will release weight and float to the surface. At the surface, it sends a homing signal so it can be recovered. The next generation of MINION will send compressed data-sets via satellite. Allowing them to be deployed by the dozens. Data from MINIONS will help scientists learn more about the ocean’s role in Earth’s climate system.
Read MoreThe Krill Crate
Scientists from WHOI and the University of Oregon transport a tank of juvenile krill (gray square box on small boat)…
Read MorePhytoplankton
What are Phytoplankton? They are known as primary producers of the ocean—the organisms that form the base of the food chain. WHOI explores the microscopic, single-celled organisms.
Read MorePlankton, By Any Other Name
Scientists usually divide plankton into three groups that align with major divisions of life. The plant-like organisms are phytoplankton (from…
Read MoreForecasting Where Ocean Life Thrives
Where do plankton grow more prolifically in the ocean? At “fronts” where different water masses meet. In this case, less-salty,…
Read MoreThe Living Breathing Ocean
Rainforests have been dubbed the Earth’s lung, but like us, our planet has two lungs. The second one is the ocean.
Read MoreThe Recipe for a Harmful Algal Bloom
Harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that accumulate in shellfish and cause health problems and economic losses. They have increased in strength and frequency worldwide. Can we get advance warnings of when and where they will occur?
Read MoreLife at the Edge
What makes the shelf break front such a productive and diverse part of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean? A group of scientists on the research vessel Neil Armstrong spent two weeks at sea in 2018 as part of a three-year, NSF-funded project to find out.
Read MoreForecasting Where Ocean Life Thrives
The ocean, like the atmosphere, has “fronts,” and it’s hardly quiet on them. In fact, that is where the plankton that provide the foundation of the ocean food web are most prolific.
Read MoreMission to the Ocean Twilight Zone
The twilight zone is a part of the ocean 660 to 3,300 feet below the surface, where little sunlight can reach. It is deep and dark and cold, and the pressures there are enormous. Despite these challenging conditions, the twilight zone teems with life that helps support the ocean’s food web and is intertwined with Earth’s climate. Some countries are gearing up to exploit twilight zone fisheries, with unknown impacts for marine ecosystems and global climate. Scientists and engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are poised to explore and investigate this hidden frontier.
Read MoreHeidi Sosik Selected as a Fellow of The Oceanography Society
Heidi Sosik, a senior scientist in the Biology Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has been named a 2018 Fellow of The Oceanography Society (TOS). Sosik’s accomplishments will be formally recognized on Feb. 13, 2018, during a ceremony at the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
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