Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni

Remote-controlled sailboat

Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium macroceros var macroceros (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Large rosette sampler used in the "World Ocean Circulation Experiment". This rosette has 36 10-liter Niskin bottles, an acoustic pinger (lower left), an "LADCP" current profiler (yellow long tube at the center), a CTD (horizontal instrument at the bottom), and transmissometer (yellow short tube at the center). (Photo : L. Talley)

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)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium tripos (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Scientists collecting seawater samples from the rosette (Photo : Stacy Knapp, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium praelongum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Carte bathymétrique de la Mer Méditerranée

Dinoflagellate Ceratium paradoxides (Photo : Sophie Marro)

The research vessel "James COOK"

Annelid worm (Photo : Fabien Lombard)