Plankton: critical little critters
We’ve known how precious our plankton are for quite a while, which is why we’re working to understand even more about these delightful critters. This is made possible through our work the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), a national ocean observing system measuring the physical, chemical and biological environment.
Using the data taken from IMOS we’re able to study climate change, ocean acidification, productivity of fisheries, biodiversity and ecosystem health.
[Music plays and CSIRO and IMOS logos and an image appears of sea water mixed with seaweed and text appears: Have you ever wondered what’s in that mouthful of sea water?]
[Image changes to show a plankton moving in a petri dish and the camera zooms in on the plankton and text appears: Millions and even billions of plankton live in the sea and are the base of the food web]
[Image changes to show a blue coloured plankton and text appears: They can be smaller than 1/10th of a mm and larger than a metre]
[Image changes to show a pink coloured plankton and text appears: They come in all shapes, sizes and colours]
[Image changes to show a plankton hiding inside a bubble and text appears: Some are masters at protecting themselves]
[Image changes to show a fish embryo plankton and text appears: Fish embryos are also plankton]
[Image changes to show another plankton and text appears: This critter does something unique]
[Camera zooms in on the plankton and shows it reflecting light and text appears: It reflects rainbow coloured light]
[Image changes to show a sea angel swimming and text appears: This sea angel is like a garden snail]
[Image continues to show the sea angel swimming across the screen and text appears: But evolved to have two flappers instead of one slimy foot]
[Image changes to show another form of plankton swimming and text appears: Believe it or not… this one will become a crab!]
[Image changes to show a jelly with four yellow arrows pointing in towards it and text appears: This little jelly has four reproductive organs]
[Image changes to show a baby anemone and text appears: And who can forget the anemone… this one is a baby]
[Image changes to show a creature like a jellyfish and text appears: Happy World Oceans Day!]
[Music plays and text appears: CSIRO Australia’s innovation catalyst]
[Image shows a plankton moving around the screen and text appears: Credits, Vision, Julian Uribe Palomino, Music, Scifi – Bensound.com, CSIRO’s plankton research is a collaboration with the Integrated Marine Observing System]