Frozen Planet and Climate Sceptics

Hello,

sorry I haven't been posting since the long lost summer months, yes I am a poor excuse of a blogger! Well in my defense I had no time to do anything...not even the laundry! (as my partner loudly complains).

What I have been up to? well, apart for a short break when my dear sister got married...lab work.

The lab work has been very intense as well as my weekly journey to the British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge) to carry out some specialized samples analysis which, hopefully, will give me some very interesting numbers to discuss in my thesis and show the world (well...whoever wants to read about it).

In the lab I have been finally able to get going with loads of experiments but I had a few problems with my cultures.

FROZEN PLANET http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mfl7n

Most of you may have been able to watch the latest David Attenborough (BBC)'s series. The photography is just amazing! I loved every minute of it and that reinforced my desire to discover more about this strange world where animals have been able to thrive in such harsh habitats. 

The last episode talked about climate change and, only to be expected, with that sparked a series of responses from critics and skeptics.

In the US they are even going to change the narration and Alec Baldwin's voice will be taped over Sir Attenborough's. They are going to great lengths in order to avoid, what they call, controversy.

The telegraph even dared to publish a rubbish article by this so called "journalist" Christopher Booker, accusing and denigrating the episode saying things like

"‎By making its coverage so flagrantly one-sided on the environment issue, it has betrayed its statutory duty to report on world events impartially".

Now...to crap reporting there must be a limit. Not once I have heard Sir David saying the words "MAN MADE CLIMATE CHANGE". And I have listened very carefully! He just laid out the truth about our world's changes fair and square. He showed pictures of what it was before and what it is now. What animals were doing and how they are trying to cope now. Some species adapt, some migrate and some, unfortunately, suffer and won't adapt on time.

The press just keeps on dramatizing and lying and so called "journalists" with no qualifications on the topics they choose to discuss, just write without even knowing what they are writing about. I always believed that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if I don't agree with that. But the arguments need to have a certain foundation of intelligence before they are exposed to the rest of the world.

After my rant..*cough cough*.

I believe we live in a changing world, I believe we are changing it, damaging it and spoiling it. I believe in science.



check this out: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7221110/Climate-change-sceptics-playing-Russian-roulette-with-planet.html


Thank you all


raffles79

Oban Field Course

Hello,

Oban from theMcCaig Tower

I am back! I am so sorry I have not been posting but I am hardly finding the time to sleep...and I LOVE sleeping my beloved 8 hours. 7 I can get away with but 8 it's perfection itself in my eyes.

Lighthouse view from the MV Calanus

Anyways, what have I been up to? Well I have been working hard, I have been to Scotland; to Oban to be more precise, for a week long field course for 1st and second years undergraduates. I really enjoyed demonstrating. The Students were really lovely and we managed to do some really fun activities. We had 3 groups that took turns each day on different field data collection events. We had 5 events in total: 

Activities: 

- Frontal features (MV Calanus) - mixed versus stratified waters, CTD+rosette, light, phosphate, chlorophyll, oxygen – compare spatial transect / across front, compare over 3 days, learn to calibrate fluorescence and oxygen sensors

- Hydrographic survey (MV Seol Mara) – Loch Etive 

- Fish farm ecological footprint 

CTD + Rosette sampling 

- Chemistry lab – analyse phosphate / chlorophyll / dissolved oxygen 

- Tides and currents – make CTD and current measurements from jetty 

The  students were asked to come up with their own sampling plan before we set off. They looked at the data collected in 2009 and then decided on an hypothesis and planned the data collection. We all worked really hard but we had our fun too.

Happy Students

I was in charge of the MV Calanus activity and after that I was just helping around with the tasks/students that needed assistance. Looooong days.

3 of us arrived in Oban the day before the students turned up so we stayed in hotel in the town (City??!) centre...The hotel had one of those 1970' names like "Queen Victoria" or "Regent Hotel" or "Royal Hotel"...something like that! The deco was most definitely 1970'...and the guest average age was around 70 years old! Probably all coming from a organised tour involving a traditional Christmas meal, in June! Just in case you felt you wouldn't make it to see December the 25th 2011...*cough cough*.  Thus, the atmosphere was a little decadent but I had fun having a drink at the bar were all the elderlies were entertained by a Scottish back-piper, the true essence of SCOOOOTLAND that is! 

Fish larvae and small fries

Anyways...the day after we moved with the group to a hostel on the seafront, run by this old and bitter Scottish lady who was a little abusive to us and generally disliked having guests and people in her house, which it's a bonus if you are running  a hotel business. Ahhh sweet memories.

I really enjoyed the visit to the fish farm where the owner took us around the "nursery" and talked to us for ages about how things are run and how difficult the business is. Still he has contracts with Waitrose and Asda...surely it is not that bad??

Halibut pocking out

The cages where the developing young adults are kept were out in the lochs. They keep Halibuts, amazing enormous flat fish, who like to pop at surface for a bit of a breather and to satisfy their curiosity (I like to think), just like sunfishes! They also have rainbow trouts, who like to leap out of the water an breach, and other species scattered along the area. A bit of a smelly place near the warehouses but all in all very interesting.   

On Thursday night Chris and I organised a little BBQ for the whole group. We had it on the beach in front of the SAMS institute where we were based. I must say the word "Summer" somehow doesn't cut it in Scotland. Chris and I drove back from Oban, where we left the place under torrential rain and 12 degrees centigrades and we arrived in Norwich with scorching sunshine and temperatures hitting 30 degrees...

Catching up and Longitude

I must apologize, I haven't posted anything for a while but it has been a little manic around here.

My sister came to visit last weekend and I have also been busy trying to get hold of some zooplankton for my experiments (I run out). Plus, I have been preparing to head to Scotland next week, to demonstrate for an Oceanography undergraduate module but I will report on that when I get back.

Cycling over Tower Bridge

My sister Valentina, her fiancée Gabriele and our friends Marco and Eleonora took advantage of a bank holiday weekend in Italy and popped over to the UK. We spent a couple of days in London, under the blazing sun and we managed to fit a few touristy things in (spending the minimum amount of money I must stress!).

I particularly enjoyed renting those push bikes that Barcklays and their "cycle hire" scheme sponsors all around London http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx 

the London Eye in a summer day

We crossed Tower Bridge and cycled along the Thames path and docked our bikes at the London Eye. Along Southbank the "Indian Summer" festival was in full swing to celebrate the festival of Britain, apparently. Lovely set up with lots of stalls and street performers. To note: the queue for the London eye was so long that I couldn't figure out where it started. Pretty busy all around I say.

We then headed  South-East to Greenwich on the Thames ferry. I have never been there before. There were people everywhere! We managed to scramble up the observatory on the top of the hill but due to economical constraints we didn't enter it http://www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-observatory/. 

Yet, we were able to see the Prime Meridian, nicely laid out for people to pose with. We decided that a picture with us walking on it, wasn't worth braving the queue starting from outside the courtyard so we just admired it from afar (it is located pretty close to the gates in fact). 

Prime Meridian. Greenwich Observatory.

I think I would have liked to go inside and browse the planetarium and museum display, I am intrigued by Harrison's timekeepers. I read his biography written by Dava Sobel. The book is titled Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time and it explains in details how the invention of the chronometer improved navigation.

Summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)

"Before the 18th century ocean navigators could not find an accurate way of determining longitude. This failure caused ships to miss their destination, many times crashing into rocks and killing their crews. A practical solution came from a simple carpenter, John Harrison, who solved one of the most difficult problems of his time by creating an accurate chronometer. The best scientists of the time, including Isaac Newton, thought it impossible. Harrison spent four decades perfecting a watch that would ultimately earn him the prize established by the Longitude Act of 1714, thanks to the recognition and influence of King George III of England" (from: http://www.nobeliefs.com/sobel.htm)

Imperial units of length.

The book is short and easy to read. Anyone interested in all things historical, mechanics, engineering, navigation and science would enjoy it, even if they are not great readers.

The observatory has also organised a photographic competition called "Astronomy Photographer of the Year"
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/
It looks very promising, I am really not going to miss it! It's all online too. The pictures are amazing, the night sky never fails to amaze anyone with it's beauty romance and mysteries. Enjoy the show.

Grabriele, Marco, Eleonora and I

Introduction to Plankton - Phytoplankton

In my first "Introduction to Plankton" post I introduced the different types of plankton that live in the ocean. I now would like to expand my introduction and focus on one plankton type at the time. I think the logical way to do it to start from the base of the oceanic food chain upwards (downwards in the picture below in order of appearance in the food web) . 

Oceanic food chain.
Phytoplankton at the base , eaten by zooplankton.

The term "food chain" stands for the representation of what species live in a certain ecosystem (environment) and how they are linked together in a sort of "who eats what" order. Basically all organisms that live in a certain habitat interact with each other, those interaction follow an order which, in simple words, start from the simplest life form upwards. 

Different habitats and ecosystems have evolved throughout time different complexities in their food chains, depending on how many species live there and the environmental factors. Although doesn't matter where, they all have one thing in common, the first link of the chain is plants or so called PHYTOPLANKTON (unicellular algae) in the ocean. 

Because plants and phytoplankton are the first link in the various chains they are called PRIMARY PRODUCERS. Plants can produce their own food through a process called photosynthesis (this is what autotrophs means: plants are autotrophs). The two most important things that phytoplankton needs to do that are:

• light



Phytoplankton growth

• nutrients  (inorganic)

So different light intensities and different nutrient concentrations will determine how well phytoplankton grows and develops. Temperature also plays a major role. Different environments often offer different amounts of the 2 required items. For example, think of polar waters compared to equatorial areas, you will find different species of phytoplankton living in these 2 parts of the world. This is because the 2 areas have completely different characteristics,  therefore the phytoplankton grows differently and over time evolved to adapt to the specific conditions of the habitats. 

Because of this dependence on light, phytoplankton productivity is highest near the surface water and decreases with depth. 

The most important Inorganic nutrients necessary for phytoplankton growth  are CARBON (C), NITROGEN (N) and PHOSPHATE (P) (macronutrients) plus others so called micronutrients such as IRON (Fe). Micro because they are necessary in smaller quantities for the cells to function.

Generally those nutrients are limited at the surface of the open ocean waters with nitrogen and phosphorus in especially short supply; (this is a primary reason for the relatively low productivity of open oceans). Marine phytoplankton is more productive near the coasts were input of nutrients come from the land running off into the surrounding waters. Also productivity is higher in upwelling areas where nutrient rich waters come to the surface.

In one of  the next posts I will talk about the different types of phytoplankton and how to culture it! 

Norwich and Norfolk Festival 2011

Giant Robot-wolves and "piper" driving a wolf-head

For the past 2 weeks (6-21 of May) here in the East of England we had a large festival going on; the so called NNF11 aka Norwich and Norfolk Festival 2011.

The festival's programme included theatrical and musical events as well as workshops for all ages and general random entertainment.

Gosh it took me ages to figure out how to spell the word entertainment...

Anyway,

special effects of giant robot wolves

with so much going on in the lab I managed to select only a few events. The first thing I went to see was this crazy giant robot wolves performance. It was an interpretation of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamling where the wolves followed an incredible woman playing the piano at the same time as driving a giant wolf head-cart around the city centre...I forgot to mention she is even a contortionist!

The day after (the beginning of the weekend), opened with the "May Daze". In Chapelfield Gardens they set up a lot of stalls and mini shows. I went to see the "side show of curiosities". Quite random as you can see from the picture of the bearded Houdini mermaid...very funny though! It involved cabaret & burlesque events. http://www.hocuspocustheatre.co.uk/

bearded Houdini mermaid

street entertainment

I loved the randomness of some of these performances, the colours and the creativity behind each thought and costumes. There were a lot of science outreach events too, mainly connected to pollution and conservation. Some very interesting workshops of mixing Art and Science as well (I love it).

Back to the festival. In the main time, all over the city, art displays and streets performances were on.

The highlight of the week for me was the "Dining with Alice" show http://diningwithalice.co.uk/. For that we traveled to Elsing Hall, a 15th century moated manor house in rural Norfolk. A wonderful place so fairy-tale like, my pictures don't do it justice so here the direct link http://www.elsinghall.com/. Some of my friends have even volunteered to participate and gave up much of their precious time for the performance! The attention to the details was fabulous.

dining with Alice 1

Dinner table

Izzy and I enjoying the party/show

Final show

In the end I managed to fit in a puppet show as well as a great classical music/choir concert at the Norwich Cathedral (The so called "voice project"), a very enchanting setting with so much history and atmosphere http://www.cathedral.org.uk/.

I seem to go through phases when I listen to a lot of classical music and others when I am more into contemporary pop/rock/folk genre. At present I am loving the old school classics, particularly while I am trying to write up a paper I wish to publish soon (ish...a few months I suspect)..we'll see. I found that listening to new age type of noises, the sound of waves in particular is also very soothing and helps me focusing blocking the other background noises out. Strangely on the website I found: http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/wmcstore/WMCshop.cgi?action=dbview&id=EA25 you can even select background such as "electric fan"...

I am disappointed I didn't get tickets for some of the show in the main tent arena but there is always next year. Shakespeare season is opening now, not that I understand all of what the actors are saying, with me being foreign and all, but I love a bit of theatre none the less! Shows really break the routine and they are very social. 

Collecting Plankton

Carboys and Emma

A few weeks ago I went to collect some lovely plankton off the coast of Great Yarmouth. The company were I used to work before (Gardline Environmental), is kindly helping me in my quest for it.

Emma and I went out on one of their fast cats. It was a very clear day and thankfully very calm! I do suffer of seasickness and unfortunately, I am one of the very unlucky ones that really cannot get over it; doesn't matter what I do. But I love the sea so much and I will keep going back.

Emma's version of the event is here:  http://sowhataboutseaweed.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/monday-media-copepod-hunting/

WP2 Bongo net 0.2mm mesh.
AMT20 zooplankton pre-dawn cast

We deployed our nets not too far from the coast in the cold water (8 degrees!) and collected some little zooplankton and copepods for me.

There are different ways of collecting plankton, mainly because it depends on what plankton you want to sample. As I mentioned in my previous post "introduction to plankton", the is quite a variety  of plankton and plankton sizes which can effect the selection of the sampling method. Plants and animals are collected usind different equipment and separately.

I am interested in MESO - zooplankton. This means I want to target animals and in the size range of 0.2-20 mm.

Plankton net cleaning

I also have to consider the environmental conditions of where I want to sample. In the North Sea for example, the water is quite shallow and murky and a little bit colder than in the English Channel. The zooplankton population here tends to be a little bit smaller. For instance, very abundant around here is a copepod species called Temora Longicornis, adult females are about 1mm in length.

The standard way of sampling mesozooplankton is to deploy a 0.2mm mesh sized WP2 plankton net. "WP2" stands for the type of net, it defines the net diameter (usually 57cm) and the proportions of the net. Combining 2 nets together like in the pic to your left makes a "bongo" net.

However I selected a smaller net with a 0.12mm mesh. The picture above shows the little net I used and the  "anatomy" of a plankton net .

We towed the net slowly for a few minutes and then we recovered the sample.  Copepods are delicate and sensitive to light, I need them to stay alive for my experiments so I took a few measures to limit the stress as much as possible. I delicately emptied the cod end into a darkened carboy and made sure the copepods had plenty of water to swim about. Soon I will show you a few pictures of my little ones.

Back at the lab I started sorting them out under the microscope and I set up a culture. They are now reproducing and swimming in my buckets.

Experiments...in the kitchen!

I have never been great at planning my evening meals nor my lunch boxes unfortunately, so often I found myself opening all the cupboards in the kitchen trying to scrape something up together or even just ending up with a sandwich. I am generally a good cook and I do like cooking when I have the time and the motivation (when others are there to benefit from it too basically). 

So...In light of all the above, I started daring a little and experimenting with my dinners, implementing a good and solid scientific method "cough cough". Kind of. 

To start with I needed an hypothesis;

Hypothesis 1: It is possible to make a delicious meal under 20 minutes.

The experimental design involved trying to make something decent in the shortest time possible...and with whatever I had in the cupboard. That's because, as I have already mentioned, there is no way I was going to think before hand what to have for dinner (I only have room for plankton related planning at present, thus my internal memory is full). And because I hate shopping, there was no way I would actually drag myself to the supermarket unless moths were the only thing left in stock. 

(I do occasionally stop at the corner shop though...well you know...when the milk turns into yogurt I need to replace it).

The first experiment I attempted involved freezer related "stuff" plus some pasta and half a tomato that was in desperate need to be used up. While I put the pasta to boil (10 minutes), I chopped the tomato up then I added the frozen peas and prawns that I scavenged from the freezer and mixed with a pinch of salt and herbs.  Then I microwaved the whole lot together. Oh! and for a touch of class I added a couple of drops of the lovely truffle oil that my friend Liz got me for Christmas...

Once I drained the pasta and added a knob of butter I splattered the "sauce" on top and proceeded eating it. The result wasn't as bad as I thought, a little tasteless maybe...well I wouldn't pay for it in a restaurant but I think I had worse things. But then again I was late for the comedy show at the Norwich Play House so I just had to be happy with that.

For my second attempt I actually put a little more effort in (considering the first time around my effort level was 0). I discarded the freezer in favour of mystery cupboards 1 and 2 and the fridge. I found:

In the fridge:

• out of date tofu (only 5 days)
• wrinkled up pepper
• a sorry looking leek
• some shriveled up carrots 

Strange looking barley/lentil grainy thing

In the cupboards:

• lentils
• strange looking barley/lentil grainy thing, left behind from a previous housemate since 2009 (see pic)
• out of date saffron (surely being a dried spice it never goes off?) best before 2009 

I chopped the sorry looking veggies and then I mixed them all together with the other items in a pan, adding white wine and stock to stop the whole thing from sticking and adding spices and salt as I wanted.

I think the experiment was a success, I did like the result and I will make it again!

Experiment 2 results

I have to mention that hopefully soon I will be able to find the motivation to cook properly again, my partner is finally coming home from Qatar to stay and not just to visit! Finally after so many years. Maybe he can cook too... 

Where is the good in goodbye?

Raf & Elena

For the past 4 months Elena, a PhD student from Vigo University, has been in Norwich to work with me and Moritz at UEA. 

We had quite a lot of fun trying to compare different techniques to measure dissolved oxygen and she helped me greatly with my poor maths. I don't dislike maths, actually I quite like it, is just that I haven't really used it for years and my brain is taking a while to tune to it again. Well...I never was particularly good at it to be honest but I am sure I can improve. 

Anyway, Elena has now gone back to Spain and I will miss her greatly. Parting from friends and family is never easy, I thought that by now I would be used to it. My family lives in Italy and I live in the UK so I practice a lot on them and on my partner who works in Qatar. 

Elena and "Respi", her microelectrode

But unfortunately it turns out that, you may get used to say goodbye to someone in particular but each time a new person leaves you still end up feeling deeply sad.

I think I am a little bit crap with feelings...I don't realize how much I care about someone until it's time to part... But I suppose it's all in the knowing you'll see each other again (or not!).

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." George Eliot

I hope we'll meet again even if I don't know when. Anyway we still have the secret plan about finding a postdoc in the same place. So to you my friend:

"Farewell, my sister, fare thee well.
The elements be kind to thee, and make
Thy spirits all of comfort: fare thee well".
William Shakespeare

And more:

"May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you".
Irish Blessing 

PS: for a godless version may I suggest "life" instead than the word "God"?  It is nice to have an option, scientists are seldom religious.

Can I add: "May Respi be fixed and always give you great data!"

The Railburn Affair

A couple of friends of mine are raising money for a MS trust charity sky dive so they have organised a murder mystery night.

Gosh, why did I have to be the seductress?? I wanted to play the role of a man! Apparently the "hot temper" bit of the character description is what made them decide...anyway; we are in 1936...the baron gets murdered at the hotel where we are all staying. Here the roles:

http://www.host-party.com

Character	Descriptions
Jake Daniels Bartender	Jake travels town to town getting work where he can find it. Bartending during prohibition is an odd occupation indeed. Jake’s real income comes from accessory sources: moonshine bootlegging and booking wagers.
Sylvia Railburn The Baron's Wife	Sylvia is a sensitive, caring woman, who has always been attracted to the opposite. She married Lawrence Railburn leaving her family and abandoning her aspiring art career.
Chastity Reynolds The Socialite	Attractive and seductive are the words most often used to describe Chastity. Her provocative nature has opened the door to many opportunities and challenges in her life. She attends all the best social events and is widely known among the fashionable elite. Those who know her best say that she is a lush with a hot temper.
Pippa Duright Hotel Manager	A proper host in all respects, except for a blaring deficiency in common sense. Philip’s absent-minded demeanor goes beyond common forgetfulness; his absolute disregard for the reality around him translates into a humorous, often ludicrous way of life. Many of his loyal patrons have known and appreciated this trait for many years during their free stays at his hotel.
Amos Hobo	To avoid an ugly and costly lawsuit the Western Pacific Railroad faced for unnecessary violence against a freeloader, the Company has given Amos (no one knows his real name) a complimentary vacation package to their most popular destination.
Sissy Bucks The Railsburn Accountant	Private accountant for Lawrence Railburn. Seymore is a human calculator and a shrewd businessman. After spending a career in public and private accounting, Seymore is preparing for an early retirement next year in the Bahamas.
Lolita Lady of the Night	Lolita spends most of her nights at the hotel bar. While she is not a member of the hotel, her hospitality services are highly regarded by the guests and staff alike.
Amber Bookly Personal Secretary	Recently hired, Ms Bookly is the precise and punctual secretary responsible for the Baron’s personal and professional affairs. She is a librarian with a wild side.
Sally Major The Sadistic Nurse	Sadistic Hotel nurse who’s remedy for all ailments is through torture or other infliction of pain.
Maria LaWenta The Chambermaid	Loyal servant and maid of the Railburn manor. She often travels with the Baron and Baroness to make foreign accommodations more hospitable. A young South American beauty, she has worked for the Railburn’s since the Baron made her acquaintance during a business trip to her country ten years ago.
Josh Railburn Son of Lawrence Railburn	A struggling artist with a flamboyant style, Josh is the only child of Lawrence and Sylvia Railburn. Josh has had few interactions with his family since a falling out during the previous year.
Johnny Fabulous Hotel Musician	Comedian, dancer and piano player extraordinaire, Johnny is the consummate vaudville entertainer. Quick with a joke and known for his ability to turn any conversation into a song.

The pre-game clue told us about some events published in the news regarding the Baron's business. Then the evening started with the discovery of the body with a broken bottle next to it.

The game was composed by 3 clue rounds, some to reveal to everyone, some to keep secret.

We all had fun..

SPOILER ALERT, if you plan to paly the same game don't read on.

At the final round we all had a go at guessing who did it. I thought it was Sylvia, she had 4 motives:

- the husband kept cheating on her (even had an illegitimate daughter: Amber)

- the husband really put their son's art down and she loved her son

- she was in love with the accountant and wanted to get rid of the baron

- she would inherit everything

Some of us believed it was Amos as the clues hinted to some sort of organised arrangement for the hobo to kill the "big guy" but again he was innocent. Jake attempted to hire him when he found his girlfriend Maria in the shower with the baron but also Sylvia and Josh were discovered plotting the same thing.

In the end the real murder was Josh, the son. the main motives were

- his father didn't accept he was gay and dis honed him 

- his father laughed at his artistic career and kept putting him down

- his father cheated repeatedly on his mother and mistreated her

Apparently there are several versions of the game. You can pick different time frames but also scenarios such as fairy tales etc. 

Introduction to Plankton

So far I haven't been really talking much about my science in this blog, but It's because I want to introduce things slowly. Today I would like to start from the basics and introduce Plankton. So...what is it?

Several scientific terms are derived either from the Greek or Latin. The word plankton, for example, is from the Greek for "drifters". It is because those things that are called plankton are very small and therefore not strong enough to actively move against underwater currents. Although some can move up and down (vertically) in the water column, others cannot move at all and just....drift. 

There are different types of plankton, classified depending on their size but also depending on their functional groups. The latter means that plant, animals and bacteria that are considered "planktonic" have different names.

• Phytoplankton: unicellular plants (they are photosynthetic). Phyto is from the Greek for plant.
• Zooplankton: animals (they eat other zooplankton and phytoplankton). Zoo is from the Greek for animal.
• Ichthyoplankton: eggs and larvae of fish. They are temporary plankton, once they reach adulthood they become NEKTON - free swimming animals that move independent of water motion. Ichthyo is from the Greek for fish.
• Bacterioplankton: bacterias (they live everywhere!). 

Here a quick sketch to show you what I mean (not to scale!!!)

Plankton sketch (not to scale)

Plankton. From: http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio217/jrc25/impacts.html

The size classification is based on certain metric ranges and it can be independent of the type of plankton, like this:

Mega-plankton          20+ mm                    e.g. Jellyfish

Macro-plankton         2mm - 20mm          

Meso-plankton          0.2mm - 2mm           e.g. larger copepods

Micro-plankton         20µm - 200µm        e.g. most phytoplankton

Nano-plankton          2-20 µm                    

Pico-plankton            0.2-2 µm                e.g. bacteria & small phyto

Femto-plankton        < 0.2 µm                    e.g. viruses

PS: µm is called micro-metre

You can be a little more precise if you want and take it a step further combining the plankton type with the size, like this:

Meso-zoo-plankton

Pico-phyto-plankton

Not all the combinations can make sense thought! As you can see the  biodiversity in the world of plankton is enormous. My areas of interest are mesozooplankton and phytoplankton.

Why do we study plankton?

From http://www.sahfos.ac.uk/research/research-home.aspx

Plankton as indicators of the health of the oceans

At the base of the marine foodweb, the free floating plant life of the sea (phytoplankton) provide food for the animal plankton (zooplankton) which in turn provide food for many other marine organisms. The carrying capacity of marine ecosystems in terms of the size of fish resources and recruitment to individual stocks as well as the abundance of marine wildlife (e.g. seabirds and marine mammals) is highly dependent on variations in the abundance, timing and composition of the plankton.

These organisms also play a crucial role in climate change through the export of the important greenhouse gas CO2 to the deep ocean by carbon sequestration in what is known as the 'biological pump'. Without this process concentrations of CO2 would be much higher in the atmosphere and the climate of the world would be much warmer. Apart from playing a fundamental role in the earth's climate system and in marine foodwebs, plankton are also highly sensitive indicators of environmental change and provide essential information on the 'ecological health' of our seas.

Game and Country Fair

Today I went to the East Anglian Game and Country Fair. There were a few shows on, I particularly liked the owls and the birds of pray demonstrations. I don't know very much about birds but the owners were very passionate about the subjects so I decided to look up at the differences between the types of bird.

It seems that owls are also classified as birds of pray but NOCTURNAL (hunt at night), while birds like falcons are diurnal (hunt during the day). That is why their eyes are so different. The eyes of an owl are incredibly large, it's one of the traits that makes them so interesting. I am a marine scientist so I cannot help comparing their physiological characteristics to the ones of fish living in the deep twilight zone of the ocean. Some of those fish have evolved very large eyes which, I believe, is an evolutionary trait to help taking in more light. I suppose the basic principle being that, if you increase the surface area of the eye, that increases the light intake and ultimately improving vision in darker environments. 

http://afishblog.com/?p=10

Usually a very good trick in nature, to maximize surface-area, is to shape things spherically or round-like, e.g cells or eggs! This is to help exposure to whatever they need/want to be exposed to (in poor words). In the case of eyes I think it would be evolutionary dangerous to have them completely spherical and bulging out too much because they are delicate and it would be difficult to keep them protected. Making them bigger often works better. 

If you want to know more about owl's eyes:
http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Vision

Anyway, the fair was full of yummy food. I don't eat red meat but the others enjoyed great hog roasts. I also took advantage of the situation and enjoyed the first Pimms of the season. 

The best thing about the whole fair was the dancing sheep show! For days I kept telling everyone I really wanted to see it.

Richard Savory owns the show, he is from New Zeland but has moved here many moons ago, bringing his sheep farming skills to Norfolk. I suppose I can call his show a sort of "sheep-outreach" programme. The whole performance is very informative, we were introduced to all sorts of different breeds and Richard explained what the main characteristics are and their differences in terms of looks, wool and meat. He then went on sheering one and then the dancing started. Not all of them were up for it but a few attempted a few steps.