Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche en face de l'observatoire océanologique de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)
Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)
Foraminifera (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium gravidum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
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)
Diatom genus Rhizosolenia (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Sea Urchin - Planktonic Origins
Barely visible to the naked eye, sea urchin larvae grow and transform into bottom-dwelling urchins.
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
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 seasonal evolution of the chlorophyll a concentration as seen by a « water color » satellite (SeaWifs) in the Atlantic Ocean.
Coccolithophore (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium macroceros var macroceros (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium paradoxides (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Colony of dinoflagellates Ceratium hexacanthum. In the video, one can observe the movement of the flagella. (Video : Sophie Marro)
Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni
Velella - Planktonic Vessels
Colonies of polyps transported by prevailing winds, velella drift at the surface of warm seas.
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)
