Average chlorophyll concentration in the surface ocean (from mi-September 1997 to August 2007) from the ocean color sensor SeaWiFS (NASA). Subtropical gyres, in the center of the oceanic basins, are characterized by very low concentrations of chlorophyll a (dark blue) - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)

Siphonophores Forskalia formosa (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

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

The research vessel "Marion Dufresne"

Dinoflagellate Ceratium arietinum var arietinum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Surface chlorophyll a concentration in the Mediterranean Sea.

Foraminifera Orbulina universa  and mollusk larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

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)

Préparation des mésocosmes sur le ponton du laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche lors de l'expérience menée en rade de Villefranche en février 2013 (© L. Maugendre, LOV)

Carte bathymétrique de la Mer Méditerranée

Squid larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Phytoplankton bloom observed by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Terra in May 2010. The bloom spreads broadly in the North Atlantic from Iceland to the Bay of Biscay - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium falcatum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)