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.
Dinoflagellate Ceratium pentagonum var robustum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Amphipode crustacean (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium fusus (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Krill (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Rosette used to collect seawater samples during a scientific cruise in the South Pacific Ocean. (Photo : Joséphine Ras)
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.
Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche en face de l'observatoire océanologique de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)
This video describes how to perform the Ludion experiment and explains the physical processes involved.
Diatom genus Cylindrotheca (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Vue sous-marine d'un groupe de mésocosmes montrant la structure de flottaison en surface (© Stareso)
Rosette for collecting seawater samples
Tunicata Pyrosoma (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Seasonal evolution of the chlorophyll a concentration as obtained by the ocean color sensor SeaWiFS in the Atlantic Ocean.
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
