Despite being largely invisible to the naked eye, plankton can be seen from space when they form massive blooms. “Over millions of years dead plankton created our oil and gas reserves and single cell phytoplankton were responsible for the White Cliffs of Dover."
Photographed by Dr Richard Kirby, an exhibition of his photos will be making its rounds in the UK in 2009. More photos online on The Telegraph website.Microscopic plankton get the big picture
Times Online 22 Dec 08;
Pictures of beasts that look as if they come from a science-fiction movie but actually live in their billions off the British coast will be on show in an exhibition that will be touring aquariums around the country.
Plankton, organisms all under two millimetres long, from the sea off the south-west of England have been photographed by Richard Kirby, of the University of Plymouth, and then printed at huge magnification to help explain how the plankton world works. Dr Kirby said: “They account for half of the world’s photosynthesis and help regulate our climate. They also form a food web without which there would be no fish.”
The incredible pictures of plankton reveal the startling truth of life in our seas and may make you think twice about going back into the water next summer.
The pictures show the two types of plankton; phytoplankton, which are plant-like, and zooplankton - animals. The organisms form a food web without which there would be no marine life as we know it. Among the varieties is one of the smallest animals related to humans; the doliolid that has a primitive back bone, called a notochord.
Some of the zooplankton are larvae and include tiny spider crabs, starfish and shrimps which grow into full size creatures. Most fish, including the sardine, spawn their eggs in the plankton as it is such a good place for the young fish to feed. And it is these minute creatures that lure huge basking sharks to our waters in the summer to feed on.
Despite being largely invisible to the naked eye, plankton can be seen from space when they form massive blooms. And it is also responsible for consuming carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, thus reducing the rising levels of the gas in the atmosphere. Dr Kirby said: “Over millions of years dead plankton created our oil and gas reserves and single cell phytoplankton were responsible for the White Cliffs of Dover."
Dr Kirby, a Royal Society Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, is now set to unveil the photographs at an exhibition that will be going to Blue Reef, Blue Planet and Deep Sea World aquariums across the country throughout 2009.
Plankton captured in stunning close up photographs
The Telegraph 21 Dec 08;
A marine biologist has taken a series of fascinating photographs of plankton to reveal the tiny creatures' complexity.
The pictures might make you think twice about going back into the water next summer but the microorganisms are all under two millimetres long and virtually invisible to the naked eye.
The creatures live in the sunlit upper parts of the sea and are normally only identifiable as a murky swirl as they gather in their millions.
However Dr Richard Kirkby, a Royal Society Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, took a series of water samples off the south west coast and photographed them at great magnification to show the plankton in detail.
The pictures show the two types of plankton: the plant-like phytoplankton, and the animal-like zooplankton.
The organisms form a food web without which there would be no marine life as we know it.
Among the varieties is one of the smallest animals related to humans; the doliolid that has a primitive back bone, called a notochord.
Some of the zooplankton are larvae and include tiny spider crabs, starfish and shrimps which grow into full size creatures.
Most fish, including the sardine, spawn their eggs in the plankton as it is such a good place for the young fish to feed.
And it is these minute creatures that lure huge basking sharks to our waters in the summer to feed on.
Despite being largely invisible to the naked eye, plankton can be seen from space when they form massive blooms.
And it is also responsible for consuming carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, thus reducing the rising levels of the gas in the atmosphere.
Dr Kirby is now set to unveil the photographs at an exhibition.
He said: "The reason behind photographing them was to try and help explain how the plankton world works.
"The pictures are quite startling.
"People who have seen them are surprised because they learn exactly what is in the sea when they go for a swim and what they even may swallow.
"These plankton live in the euphotic zone of the sea, which is the sunlit top part.
"The word plankton comes from the Greek word meaning drifter and they are at the mercy of the ocean's currents.
"There are phytoplankton that are like plants, and zooplankton that are animals.
"Some are larvae that will mature and grow into adult animals such as crabs or jellyfish on the seabed, while others spend their whole lives in the plankton.
"Plankton are extremely important and account for half of the world's photosynthesis and help regulate our climate.
"Over millions of years dead plankton created our oil and gas reserves and single cell phytoplankton were responsible for the White Cliffs of Dover.
"Phytoplankton are also used in some toothpastes because they have an abrasive quality.
"They form a food web without which there would be no fish.
"Among the plankton is one called a doliolid that has a rod-like group of cells that is a primitive back bone and is from the same group of animals as humans."
The photographs will form part of an exhibition that will be going to Blue Reef, Blue Planet and Deep Sea World aquariums across the country throughout 2009.
