Welcome To Our Plankton Page

Plankton is composed of microscopic plants and animals, which drift in the ocean currents. Phytoplankton (the plants) are a major source of food and oxygen (via photosynthesis) in our planet's overall ecology. Zooplankton (the animals) feed mostly on phytoplankton, and are among the most abundant animals on earth.

We are collecting plankton by using a funnel-shaped, fine-mesh net. We pull the net along the edge of the dock for a specific distance, then take the "catch" to the laboratory to examine under a
microscope. For the purpose of this study we simply identify the most common organisms and give a rough estimate of their abundance using the following codes:

A = abundant

C = common

R = rare

(If the table below seems crooked or out of line, go to Options/Preferences in Netscape & set your browser's fixed font as Courier. If you have the AOL browser, tough. Nothing looks good on it anyway....)

Plankton Data

0900 = outside
1130 = inside
1700 = inside (stormy)
0600 = outside (dawn)

Diatom surrounded by Red Algae

Pacific - Friday Harbor 11-Apr  11-Apr  11-Apr  12-Apr  12-Apr

	                   0900PDT 1130PDT 1700PDT 0400PDT 0600PDT

Phytoplankton

a Protoperidinium          R        A      -       -       C

b Chaetoceros              C        C      C       -       C

c Ditylum                  R        -      -       -       R

d Pleurosigma              R        A      A       -       R

e Skeletonema              C        C      -       -       -

f Licmophora               R        -      -       -       R

g Cocinodiscus             -        C      -       -       -

h Naviculoid               -        C      -       -       R

i Navicula                 -        R      A       -       - 

j Bacillaria               -        R      C       -       - 

k Biddulphia               -        R      A       -       - 

l Melosira                 -        -      A       -       -

m Arachnodiscus            -        -      R       -       - 

Zooplankton

a Copepods                 A        A      A       -       A
  (various stages)

b Larvacean                R        R      -       -       -

c Fish Larvae              A        -      -       -       R

d Hydromedusa              R        -      -       -       -

e Cyprid barnacle larve    A        -      -       -       -

f Crab Zoea                C        R      -       -       -

g Amphipod                 A        -      -       -       -

h Crab Megalopa            C        -      -       -       -

i Nauplius barnacle
  larvae                   C        C      C       -       A 

j Trocophore polychaete 
  larvae                   -        C      -       -       -

k Sponge larvae            -        R      -       -       -

l Veliger snail larvae     -        R      -       -       -

m Polychaete worm          -        R      -       -       C

n Rotifer                  -        R      R       -       -

o Veliger clam larvae      -        R      -       -       R

p Medusa                   -        R      -       -       -

q Nematode                 -        R      -       -       -

r Bryozoa larvae           -        R      -       -       -

s Gastropod larvae         -        -      R       -       -

Invertebrate Egg           -        -      -       -       R

Nemertean (?)              -        -      -       -       R

Ostracode (?)              -        -      -       -       R

Things to think about:

Does the plankton change over the course of the study period at either site? Why or why not?

Is there a difference between the Pacific and Atlantic plankton?

What are the dominant organisms in the plankton?

How might the composition of the plankton change throughout the year? Why?

Why is plankton important?

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