Marine Plankton in Milford Haven
Pembrokeshire UK
Aims of the Site
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To share marine plankton information
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Display photos of plankton biodiversity
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Provide an educational resource
Welcome. This site covers coastal plankton washing on to the stunning shores of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. There is an amazing biodiversity of microscopic life living in every drop of seawater. Collections are made around Milford Haven, part of the Special Area of Conservation, with the most regular ones made in Dale. Other locations. Before looking at the details of The Species you may want to have quick look at the Biodiversity page while Methods looks specifically at how the samples are taken and photographed.
Photo of the Month
Photographed 19th August 24, there was a sudden increase in protozoans especially ciliates and this amazing example is Didinium. A single cell which is 70 microns across, this is a voracious carnivore. The protrusion, top left, is like a proboscis for catching prey using strands to fire at prey. Then it can open up a "mouth" as wide as the cell to engulf the food. Normally there are 2 bands of cilia for movement but here the 4 bands suggests that it is about to divide into two new individuals.
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Photograph was taken as a short videoclip and then all the frames were extracted (245 in all) and stacked to produce a single image.
