When you’re swimming in the ocean, be careful to not gulp down that seawater because you won’t believe what’s in it. Photographer?David Liittschwager?took this photo of a dipper of water and magnified it two times (not 25x as is being reported in some venues) for this amazing photo for?National Geographic.
From PetaPixel:
I made this picture off Kona, Hawaii in 2006. It was first published?in?National Geographic?magazine. I am not sure where the caption information came from but here is the correct data: Marine Microfauna ? part of the contents of one dip of a hand net. The magnification was 2x life size, meaning that the actual frame size was am half-inch high, so depending on how big the image is on your screen you can calculate the magnification as you see it.
What exactly is living in this beautiful substance?
Phytoplankton
- Diatom Ethmodiscus (rectangular cells with dotted green chloroplasts)
- Cyanobacteria (probably Katagynmene; numerous coiled filaments; these are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen gas)
Holozooplankton
- A minimum of 9 species of copepods, including both adults and juveniles
- chaetognaths (aka ?arrow worms?, the nearly transparent, elongate worm-like animals; they are carnivorous, eating mainly copepods, and actually have nothing to do with worms!)
- pteropod (a type of pelagic snail; the vase-shaped organism toward the right of the image, just above centerline)
- siphonophore swimming bell (part of the siphonophore colony used in locomotion; siphonophores are gelatinous, colonial organisms related to jellyfish; the space ship-shaped, nearly transparent object at the right margin, toward the bottom)
- appendicularian (aka ?larvacean,? a pelagic tunicate that secretes a mucous house; house is not present here; upper left corner, sickle-shaped)
Meroplankton
- fish eggs (numerous spheres with orange-brown centers)
- crab larva (megalops stage)
- polychaete worm larva (golden-brown organism with protruding setae; lower boundary, 1/3 of the way from the left margin)
You can buy prints of this seawater photo at Art.com.
h/t Peta Pixel
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Tiffany Willis is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
