Station 1's spring plankton net tow was filled with Phaeocystis, a phytoplankton that comes in two forms: 1) small, single-celled organsims or 2) huge, gelatinous colonies that are up to hundreds of micrometers in size. We sampled the colonial form and it clogged our plankton nets. Below are two views of colonial Phaeocystis: the color microscopic image shows the outline of the gelatinous material. The black-and-white data image (lower left) is from the FlowCAM instrument; it better resolves the individual cells within the bigger "blobs."
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