Weekend #Plankton Factoid
Many sessile marine organisms produce planktonic larvae for dispersal. This is true of the Bryozoa ("moss animals") in both freshwater and saltwater, which are often mistaken for sponges or corals. Larvae widely range in shape and lifestyle, but some larvae called cyphonautes can spend weeks feeding in the plankton. They are a distinctly flattened triangle shape, using ridges of cilia for locomotion, creating feeding currents and sieving particles.
#Science #Ecology

#Plankton hat recht:

#beats Kopfhörer sind shice und alles jeseits eine #Omega #Seamaster300M ist einfach nur noch prolliger shice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7JrdEaUwDs

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
While algal #blooms are often associated with summer, they can occur in any season. SE #Australia is experiencing a prolonged bloom of Karenia mikimotoi (same genus as Florida Red Tide). Though this widespread species is not as #toxic, it produces compounds and irritating foams which sickens humans, but #fish can be killed in large numbers through gill damage. Finding thousands of fishes on a beach for months is traumatizing for residents.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/28/over-11-gruesome-kilometres-teams-fill-bag-after-bag-of-marine-life-killed-by-sas-stubborn-algal-bloom

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
Last week, I mentioned a ciliate that can cause red tide #blooms. Mesodinium rubrum is an example of a unicellular organism that can both injest food and photosynthesize. Its main prey are cryptomonad #algae, which themselves have endosymbiont red algae. The #ciliate doesn't digest some cells, stealing the plastid cloroplasts and nucleus from the algae so it can use them for photosynthsis. This is called kleptoplastidy. #Science #Ecology
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.027

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
When most people think about algal blooms, they envision bright green water. However, blooms can also be dark red, invoking the colour of blood. A number of groups can generate red pigment blooms including flagellates like red-tide species Karenia brevis and Heterosigma akashiwo, Alexandrium spp. (Shellfish poisoning), the green algae Botryococcus braunii turning the Sea of Galilee red, and even a ciliate (not even an alga) Mesodinium rubrum. #science

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
Did you know that plankton can get sunburn? UV radiation can affect microbes, #phytoplankton and #zooplankton by causing cellular molecular or genetic damage. While some species can avoid the surface zone, others can not, so therefore create protective compounds like carotenoids and mycosporine-like amino acids (MMA) to absorb #UV. This is particularly important in intense sunlight systems like the poles or alpine lakes.
#science #scicomm
https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/28/14/5588

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
Plankton have #parasites, just like any other organism, but in some cases, this leads to improved feeding conditions. #Daphnia zooplankton must often feed on freshwater cyanobacteria, which isn't an ideal food for them. However, when the #cyanobacteria has a #chydrid fungus infection (yes, like frogs), they are more nutritious, easier to eat, and the associated bacteria from cell decay is also a food source.
#foodwebs #science
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep35039

1 August TEPCO #Fukushima Radiation Dump report 711m3 & 1,202m3 www.tepco.co.jp/press/report... Radiation destroys #Chitin #PacificOcean habitat #health #wildlife #marine #whales #krill #plankton biology #science

We can't see most #plankton, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that this world would not be #habitable without them. Yet these key part of life at #sea is commonly overlooked and forgotten the the public. This paper shows the many benefits they give people, because we need a reminder from time to time. Good resources to share with #educators.

Link: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaf049/8172382

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
27 M tonnes. Dutch NIOZ scientists found that nanoplastics (<1 μm) are not only widespread, but equivalent to the mass of macro & microplastics! Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) #plastics don't just float on the surface, but can be found at depths below 1000m. These particles are likely interfering with #zooplankton feeding because many organisms forage on these sizes of particles. #science
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250721223827.htm

Century-old #crustacean mystery solved: Parasitic #barnacles hijack host bodies through root-like networks https://phys.org/news/2025-07-century-crustacean-mystery-parasitic-barnacles.html

"Y-larvae have been studied in #plankton since the 1800s, but the real mystery is figuring out what they grow up to be... they are related to barnacles, but more as distant cousins... if we expose them to #crustaceans' growth hormone, they will hatch out of their little swimming larval shape into a slug-like body, which is similar to what parasitic barnacles do"

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
A new paper using expert interviews lays out ecosystem services provided by plankton. These range from economic provisioning of feed or oils, regulating nutrients and the #climate through the carbon pump, cultural and tourism, and oxygenation of the atmosphere. They also highlight disservices, including toxicity and harmful algal blooms, jellyfish bloom impacts to fisheries and tourism, and changing light conditions.
Read it all here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1607996/full
#science

#FYI #PaulBeckwith #ocean #albedo #plankton #phytoplankton

darkening ocean = phytoplankton blooms can only occur much closer to the surface, less nutrients upwell into the photic zone."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkv0eRGDjjE

bubbles had some #plankton jelly. #starfish #jelly #food #plushies

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
For a while, there has been concern for how the ocean's #ecosystem is being modeled. Too often it is oversimplified with #phytoplankon and #zooplankton added almost as an afterthought, much less higher trophic levels, or so detailed as to miss relationships and prevent predictions. Scientists are now proposing to create "digital twins" of our planet now as a highly detailed simulation for a framework to investigate #climate impacts. #science
https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/scientists-call-for-plankton-ecosystem-modelling-revolution/

Wie beeinflusst der #Klimawandel die CO2-Speicherung in den Ozeanen? Die sogenannte #Kohlenstoffpumpe ist ein kritisches Element im globalen #Klimasystem und rettet bisher unser Überleben. Welche Rolle spielen #Plankton und Meeresströmungen dabei? Und wie wirken sich steigende Wassertemperaturen und die #Versauerung auf diese Prozesse aus?

#Ozeane #CO2Speicherung #Meeresforschung #Umweltschutz #Meeresforschung

https://www.oekologisch-unterwegs.de/klimawandel/845-die-kohlenstoffpumpe-der-ozeane-welche-auswirkungen-hat-der-klimawandel-auf-die-co2-speicherung.html

Weekend #Plankton Factoid
While less discussed, there is a similar circulation to the AMOC in the #Antarctic called the Southern Meridional Overturning Circulation (SMOC). This is also vital to deep circulation, algal productivity, ecosystem function, and the global #carbon cycle. While there is debate about AMOC slowing, the SMOC has reversed, as detected through increased salinity, resulting in more upwelling of high CO2 water and reduced ice formation.
#Science
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250701020711.htm

Plankton can investigate crime, affect the climate and influence science
#Environment #Science #Plankton #Ecosystem #Biodiversity #MarineLife #AquaticScience #Photosynthesis #Ecology #CarbonCycle #Bioluminescence #Sustainability #NatureInspires
https://the-14.com/plankton-can-investigate-crime-affect-the-climate-and-influence-science/