An evening with the plankton of Indianola.
Join Marine Science Afloat, on Indianola dock for an exploration of the abundant wildlife drifting in the waters off Indianola. We will use plankton nets and a light trap to capture samples of both micro and macroscopic plankton that call Indianola waters home.
Using a video microscope, I will take you on a guided tour of the fascinating world of plankton. Meet phytoplankton, the plant-like creatures that make up much of the base of the food web that feed and support the abundant life on Indianola Beach. Including diatoms, single celled organisms that live in glass houses and come in more shapes and sizes then snowflakes. Dinoflagellate’s swimming plant-like phytoplankton, some of which are also predatory, one celled hunters’ that club and then gobble up other planktonic prey. Zooplankton animals in every imaginable form, from krill & jellyfish to our chordate cousin the larvacean who lives in a snot ball house. 90% of the creatures we see on the beach live part of their life as plankton. The developing forms of crabs, barnacles, sea stars, sand dollars, snails and clams are all likely to be encountered.
After we have explored this soup of life on the microscopic level, anyone who is game can join me in my annual summer swim in the bioluminescence.
Pat Maxwell
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