Archipelago

Plankton. It’s a just a bunch of small floaty stuff that whales eat. Isn’t it?

Last year I visited the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, and had a brief tour. The MBA is home to SAHFOS – a research group who collect plankton in a special device towed behind ships. They have been quietly collecting and studying plankton for the last 75 years.

I was surprised to find out that this data can tell us not just about levels and types of plankton in the sea, but about fish stocks, ocean currents, water chemistry, weather and climate patterns.

I suspected at the time that this might be important in relation to Climate Change, but it wasn’t until I read Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis, that I realised just HOW important it might be. If you haven’t read it yet, here are the headlines:

• Every second breath of oxygen you take is provided courtesy of plankton

• The sea’s chemistry is changing radically due to man-made CO2

• The plankton may not survive the changes

It doesn’t take a Marine Biologist to figure out the potential consequences. This is described in hushed tones by scientists as ‘The Other CO2 Problem’, and it makes Climate Change look like a walk in the park.

Time to get interested in Plankton?