Siphonophores - The longest animals on the planet
Cousins of corals, siphonophores are colonies of specialized individuals called zoids. Some catch and digest their prey, others swim, or lay eggs or sperm.
Les Dinoflagellés - Ceratium gravidum
Ceratium gravidum dont en voit parfaitement les mouvements d’un des deux flagelles.
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Surface chlorophyll a concentration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Instrumented buoy (Photo : Emilie Diamond)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium candelabrum var depressum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
The research vessel "Marion Dufresne"
Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche en face de l'observatoire océanologique de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium macroceros var macroceros (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
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)
Plankton
Plankton are a multitude of living organisms adrift in the currents.Our food, our fuel, and the air we breathe originate in plankton.
Colony of dinoflagellates Ceratium hexacanthum. In the video, one can observe the movement of the flagella. (Video : Sophie Marro)
Diatom genus Hemiaulus (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)