The unexpected beauty of PLANKTON: Magnified photographs showcase the microscopic creatures’ incredible diversity

Dr Richard Kirby has dedicated his career to studying and photographing plankton

His book puts plankton under the microscope, so people can appreciate their varied and usual features

The organisms include drifting animals, microorganisms, algae and bacteria that live in the sea, or fresh water

Plankton underpin the marine food chain, provide the world with oxygen and play a role in the global carbon cycle


Some people may think that plankton are nothing but characterless food for fish and whales.



But one marine scientist has highlighted the incredible diversity and beauty of the group of marine organisms, which to the untrained eye can look like miniature aliens.



Dr Richard Kirby has dedicated his career to studying and photographing plankton, which live in huge numbers in the ocean.



One marine scientist has highlighted the incredible diversity and beauty of the group of marine organisms, which to the untrained eye can look like miniature aliens. Crab megalopa larva is pictured. The creature will one day grow into a tiny crab, if it is not eaten by a larger marine animal

His book, 'Ocean Drifters: A Secret World Beneath the Waves', puts plankton under the microscope, so people can appreciate their varied and usual features, from the bulbous eyes and hairy legs of larger zooplankton to the strange geometric shapes of smaller phytoplankton, which can be a type of algae.



The organisms include drifting animals, microorganisms, algae and bacteria that live in the sea, or fresh water.



The microscopic algae and the tiny animals that eat them float freely in the sunlit surface of the sea, where they underpin the marine food chain, provide the world with oxygen and play an essential role in the global carbon cycle.



Dr Richard Kirby has dedicated his career to studying and photographing plankton, which live in huge numbers below the ocean waves. From left to right, a paddle worm, spider crab larva and Maja Sqinado, which is a type of plankton are pictured using a microscope

The book includes high-magnification photographs as well as explaining how the creatures are being affected by global warming, which could have wide-ranging ramifications for the ecology of the planet, if plankton drop in numbers. A Hyperiid Amphipod larvae - the young of a small aquatic crustacean - is pictured and it is possible to see its developing eyes and even the hairs on its legs

The book includes high-magnification photographs and explains how the creatures are being affected by global warming, which could have wide-ranging ramifications for the ecology of the planet, if plankton drop in numbers.



The organisms cannot swim against the current and are at the very beginning of the marine food chain and are eaten by fish which in turn are consumed by other sea creatures like seabirds, sharks, dolphins, turtles and seals.



‘Without the plankton there would be no fish in the sea, or creatures that feed upon them,’ said Dr Kirby, a senior lecturer at Plymouth University in Devon.



The organisms cannot swim against the current and are at the very beginning of the marine food chain. They are eaten by fish which in turn are consumed by other sea creatures like seabirds, sharks, dolphins, turtles and seals. Echinoderm Luidia sarsii - a type of microscopic worm - is pictured left and a minute jellyfish called Velella velella, which has been magnified 10 times, is pictured on the right



'Without the plankton there would be no fish in the sea, or creatures that feed upon them,' said Dr Kirby, a senior lecturer at Plymouth University in Devon. Despite its exotic-looking strands, this microscopic animal is actually worm larva

Many people might think of plankton as simply a source of food for larger animals, but these photos highlight their complex features, including bulbous eyes and jaws. The 'mini monster' on the left is the planktonic larva of the nut crab Ebalia, a small, roughly diamond-shaped crab with a rough shell, which at its largest, reaches 12 millimetres long. On the right, another type of swimming crab larva, which has a scary-looking spike on its 'back' is pictured



‘Not only is the plankton a good place for the young of creatures that live on the seabed to feed and grow, but the currents at the surface also help disperse them to new places, very much like the wind disperses the seeds of plants on land.



‘Increasing global temperatures are raising sea surface temperatures, thereby altering the plankton's habitat and bringing about changes in their abundance, their distributions and their seasonality.



‘If you have ever swallowed some seawater while swimming you will almost certainly have engulfed some plankton too, just like a baleen whale.’



Dr Richard Kirby (pictured) said: 'If you've ever swallowed seawater while swimming you will almost certainly have engulfed some plankton too, just like a baleen whale.'

Dr Kirby warned that ‘Increasing global temperatures are raising sea surface temperatures, thereby altering the plankton's habitat and bringing about changes in their abundance, their distributions and their seasonality.' Stinging Medusae of Obelia is pictured left and is a tiny polyp that can sometimes be found attached to rocks and shells, appearing as a delicate whiteish fur in large numbers. Pictured right is the zoea larva of crabs, a type of plankton which have been magnified 150 times



Larger zooplankton, which include tiny crustaceans and other animals eat phytoplankton - algae that live near the water's surface - provide carbon to the food web, either by breathing or by dying. A Phyllosoma larva of a Spiny lobster is pictured, complete with its incredible eyes

As well as providing larger marine animals with food, plankton ecosystems play a role in regulating the ocean’s carbon cycle.



Larger zooplankton include tiny crustaceans and other animals that eat phytoplankton – algae that live near the water’s surface – to provide carbon to the food web, either by breathing or by dying as their bodies decompose.



Because organic material is denser than seawater, carbon sinks deep into the ocean in a process known as the biological pump, which is one reason why the oceans are considered to be the largest carbon sink on Earth.