The oceans of the Earth are full of life, from the tiniest little plankton plant to the biggest whale shark. All of the plants and animals in the ocean depend on each other to survive.
Plankton is the name for microscopic animals and plants that float freely in the ocean. Plant plankton are called “phytoplankton” and are the most important plants that live in the oceans, even though each one can be only about 1 millimetre long. Billions of these tiny little plants live in the oceans and they are the most important type of food for lots of fish and sea-birds. Without them, there would hardly be any life in the sea at all!
Not all plankton are plants. Animal plankton are called “zooplankton” and some of them are the tiny larvae of much larger animals such as crabs, starfish and jellyfish, which all start out life as tiny animal plankton!
Who-Eats-Who?
Cod
Copyright The Irish Marine Institute
Cod
Copyright The Irish Marine Institute
Copyright The Irish Marine Institute
Cod
Copyright The Irish Marine Institute
Gannet
This resident bird is a seabird with long, narrow wings. Itm can plunge dive into the sea from up to 40 metres, folding its wings back to hit the water in a streamlined shape.
Copyright Environment Protection AgencyGannet
Copyright Environment Protection Agency
Copyright Environment Protection Agency
Gannet
This resident bird is a seabird with long, narrow wings. Itm can plunge dive into the sea from up to 40 metres, folding its wings back to hit the water in a streamlined shape.
Copyright Environment Protection AgencyBig animals, like sea-birds eat smaller animals like fish, and the fish eat the plankton. Without the plankton, the fish could not survive, and without the fish the sea-birds could not survive.