Phytoplankton Pins and Buttons

Support team phytoplankton with this shirt featuring Volvox, Cryptophyta, Staurastrum, and Anabaena

Step into a Mesmerizing Microscopic World: Explore Hand-Drawn Dinoflagellates and Radiolarians Collection - Nature's Artistry Unveiled!

Marine phytoplankton bloom. Satellite image of a large green bloom of phytoplankton in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. Every summer, the nutrient-rich, cooler waters of the northern basins of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans promote more growth among marine plants and phytoplankton than is found in tropical waters. This produces massive blooms of phytoplankton that spread across hundreds and sometimes thousands of kilometres. Blooms off Scandinavia in the summer of 2018 were particularly intense. Imaged by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on NASA's Landsat 8 satellite, on 18th July 2018.

Micrograph of two empty Staurastrum desmid alga cells, field of view is approximately 118 microns wide.

Closterium desmid alga under the microscope

Freshwater diatom, Rhopalodia sp., under the microscope

Melosira diatoms under the microscope

All too often we think about the Jungles as being the 'carbon emission traps' for the World... but it is a Watery Planet which we live on. With some 70% of the Globe area covered by water ~ it is the 'carbon fixing' ability of the Phytoplankton ~ the 'blue-green' algae's ~ which are the key to survival on this Watery sphere... which 'we' call EARTH! If we are going to 'fight the battle' and 'fight the battle well' ~ we must realize and understand that 'we must' protect and defend ~ 'our' watery backyard... Some of the fishes, like this 'double-striped soap-fish' ~ seem already poised ~ standing guard and at the ready ~ hidden within the 'black coral forests' underwater ~ but they will not fight ~ like 'jungle warriors!' As...

Freshwater diatom, Rhopalodia sp., about 80 microns in length, under the microscope

Coccolithophore on needle tip. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a composition of the coccolithophore Emiliana huxleyi on a needle tip. This small algal organism is a calcareous phytoplankton and is surrounded by a skeleton (coccosphere) of calcium carbonate plates (coccoliths). When the organism dies, the plates separate and sink to the ocean floor. Coccolithophores are of particular interest to those studying global climate change because as ocean acidity increases, their coccoliths may become even more important as a carbon sink (absorb carbon dioxide). Individual plates have been found in vast numbers and can make up the major component of a particular rock, such as the chalk of England. E. huxleyi an important part of t...

Bright field photomicrograph of filamentous algae cells with attached Characium algae, pictured area is about 160 micrometers wide.

A colorized image of Aulacoseira from Lake Malawi in SEM.

A colorized SEM image of Stephanodiscus niagarae from June Lake, California.

Diatom. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a Melosira sp. diatom. Diatoms are single-celled photosynthetic algae, of which there are about 100, 000 species. They have mineralised cell walls (frustules) that contain silica and provide protection and support. The diatoms form an important part of the plankton at the base of the marine and freshwater food chains. Diatoms are used to monitor past and present environmental conditions, and are commonly used in studies of water quality. Diatoms produce 20-30% of the air we breathe. Through carbon fixation, diatoms remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The CO2 is converted to organic carbon in the form of sugar, and oxygen (O2) is released. We breathe the oxygen that diato...

Airy fame

Recolorized SEM image of the diatom Coscindiscus perforatus from San Francisco Bay.

Internal view of the diatom Lindavia in SEM, colorized.

Internal view of the diatom Lindavia in SEM, colorized.

Colorized SEM image of an Arachnodiscus from the plankton of San Francisco Bay.

Colorized image of a Ditylum (internal view of the valve face).

Internal view of the diatom Thalassiosira in SEM, colorized.

Recolorized SEM image of a Thalassisoria diatom from San Francisco Bay.

Asteromphalus diatom imaged from the SEM and colorized.

Colorized SEM image of a diatom (Cyclotella) from the plankton of San Francisco Bay.

Colorized image of an Actinocyclus diatom. Originally collected in San Francisco Bay.

Internal view of the diatom Thalassiosira in SEM, colorized.

Internal view of the diatom Lindavia in SEM, colorized.

Odontelloid diatom from San Francisco Bay with false color added to SEM image.

A close view of the internal valve face of a Cyclostephanos from Lake Malawi in the SEM, colorized.

A close view of the internal valve face of a Cyclostephanos from Lake Malawi in the SEM, colorized.

This abstract black and white diatom design shows the amazing variation in the diverse forms of diatoms. Diatoms are microscopic ocean phytoplankton, a type of algae with shells made of what is essentially glass! Great gift for oceanographers, marine biologists, microbiologists, beachcombers, or those who love of science art.

Colorized SEM image of a diatom from San Francisco Bay.

A colorized SEM image of a diatom from the genus Coscinodiscus, collected from the plankton of San Francisco Bay

False color image of a diatom belonging to the genus Thalassiosira imaged in the SEM.

I collected the sample that contained this diatom while standing in a river in northeastern Ohio, during my nephew's wedding. Samples were processed and imaged in my lab, and the SEM image was colorized using a combination of Photoshop and Lightroom.

This diatom is Cyclotella meneghiniana, drawn from images collected on a Scanning Electron Microscope.