Rosette used to collect seawater samples during a scientific cruise in the South Pacific Ocean. During the austral summer, the amount of chlorophyll a is so low that the water becomes deep blue, almost purple. (Photo : Joséphine Ras)
Rosette for collecting seawater samples
Jellyfish Pelagia noctilica (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Gelatinous plankton salpes and Beroe (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Illustration in synthesized images of the seasons of the ocean: a year from the Arctic - Animation Clement Fontana
Pelagia - Fearsome Jellyfish
Mauve jellies move in droves, their nasty stings feared by swimmers.
Annelid worm (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Drifting profiling floats in the Atlantic
Scientists collecting seawater samples from the rosette (Photo : Stacy Knapp, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium carriense var volans (Photo : Sophie Marro)
Velella - Planktonic Vessels
Colonies of polyps transported by prevailing winds, velella drift at the surface of warm seas.
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Profiling float (Photo : David Luquet)
Dinoflagellate Ceratium falcatum (Photo : Sophie Marro)
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.
Foraminifera Orbulina universa and mollusk larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni