Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Plankton
Plankton are a multitude of living organisms adrift in the currents.Our food, our fuel, and the air we breathe originate in plankton.
The seasonal evolution of the chlorophyll a concentration as seen by a « water color » satellite (SeaWifs) in the Atlantic Ocean.
Phytoplankton bloom observed in the Barents Sea (North of Norway) in August 2010 by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Aqua. Changes in ocean color result from modifications in the phytoplankton composition and concentration. The green colors are likely associated with the presence of diatoms. The shades of light blue result from the occurrence of coccolithophores, phytoplankton organisms that strongly reflect light due to their chalky shells - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)
The various components of a profiling float type PROVOR
Diatoms - Life in glass houses
Champions of photosynthesis, these unicellular organisms appeared at the time of dinosaurs.They produce a quarter of the oxygen we breathe.
Vue sous-marine d'un groupe de mésocosmes montrant un plongeur récoltant les pièges à sediment (© Stareso)
Rosette for collecting seawater samples
Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)
Satellite observation (GEOS-12) of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 in the Gulf of Mexico - Source : NASA-NOAA
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Radiolarians (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Pleurobrachia
Propulsées par huit rangées de peignes, les groseilles de mer déploient deux longs tentacules pour pêcher des crustacés.
The research vessel "James COOK"
Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche en face de l'observatoire océanologique de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)
Ostracodes (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Pelagia - Fearsome Jellyfish
Mauve jellies move in droves, their nasty stings feared by swimmers.