Young Explorer Day - Microscopic Life

Today the theme of the Young Explorer Wednesday program at the Aquarium was Microscopic Life. I love teaching people about plankton! We also had the opportunity to look at a few squid that had just hatched. Here is a video of one of the squid at 40x magnification. Note the chromatophores (pigment containing cells) changing shape. Below are some pictures of our adventures today.

Learning to use the microscope.

We spotted some copepods.

One of the recently hatched squid.

Where do plankton fit in the marine food chain?

Right whales eat copepods, which eat phytoplankton. 

Phytoplankton supports the base of the marine food chain.

Drawing coccolithophores.

 Here is a short video explaining coccolithophores.

Trying our hand at making new phytoplankton species.

The challenge is to sink slowly so they remain in the sunlight zone.

Next week will be our last Young Explorer Wednesday program of the summer. Our theme will be lobsters and their arthropod relatives.