In Search of Plankton

And now for the real deal -- what we're finding in our samples! So far there haven't been a lot of definite bluefin but we have found other tunas and billfish, as well as various planktonic characters like lobsters, different fish, crustaceans, worms, snails, jellies, etc. We've also found a lot of trash, mostly plastics (more on that in a future post).

We took all of these photos using a microscope camera. 

By clicking on a photo you can view it in a larger window.

Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) - What we're looking for!

Cephalopod

Sunfish (Molidae)

Mahi Mahi (Coryphaenidae) 

Bristleworm

Pufferfish (Tetraodontidae)

Myctophid (Myctophidae)

Krill (euphausiidae) and a decapod

Billfish (Istiophoridae)

Lobster larvae

All photos are the property of NOAA. Reproduction, manipulation, or downloading are prohibited without permission by Kat Dale. Thanks!