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)

Copepode Coryceide  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Profiling float (Photo : David Luquet)

Mollusk  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Villefranche-sur-Mer in stormy weather, winter 2011 - Photo : J.-M. Grisoni

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

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)

Diatom species Odontella mobiliensis (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Krill (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Mollusk  (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)

Ocean color satellites travel around the Earth at an altitude of about 700 to 800 km.

The research vessel "Marion Dufresne"

Dinoflagellate Ceratium praelongum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Diatom genus Chaetoceros (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)