Up-close image of a translucent krill.

Plankton

Preview

Forams are tiny single-celled organisms.

The World of Foraminifera

Take a closer look at a few members of this fascinating life form in this slideshow.

Read More

Featured Content

The shell of a sea slug

A Microscopic Identity Crisis

Small red hyperiid.

The Hyper Eyes of Hyperiids: How Some Shrimp-Like Creatures See Light in the Deep Sea

Census researchers discovered this sea cucumber (Enypniastes sp.) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Zooplankton Biodiversity

Image of two dinoflagellates seen through a microscope.

Dinoflagellates: One Species at a Time

A female (top left) and male Photerus annecohenae. Note that females are larger than males (sexual dimorphism) and that males have bigger eyes.

You Light Up My World!

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans see plankton lesson plans

Plankton Articles

This copepod (Gaussia princeps) was collected deeper than 1000 meters in the Sargasso Sea by Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) researchers in April 2006.

Five Questions with Russ Hopcroft, Zooplankton Whiz

A close-up image of deep-sea fish Argyropelecus aculeatus

15 Creatures in the Gulf of Mexico that are Stranger Than Fiction

A female (top left) and male Photerus annecohenae. Note that females are larger than males (sexual dimorphism) and that males have bigger eyes.

You Light Up My World!

Kelps are large, brown algae that grow along coasts around the world, especially in cooler regions.

With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean

An arrow-worm from the genus Spadella. Alvariño discovered and classified the species Spadella gaetanoi in 1978.

Ángeles Alvariño: Woman of Many Namesakes

The shell of a sea slug

A Microscopic Identity Crisis

Cartoon t-shirts with got plankton.

The Cloud Factories that Live in the Sea

Nine small invertebrates held on two fingers.

On Biodiversity: Understanding its Meaning and Importance

The Amazon River carries all the rainwater that lands in the Amazon rainforest, covering some 2.1 million square miles, into the ocean. And with it, it carries vital nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen and silicon.

Thirty Days to Submission: How I Made a Video for Ocean180

A large red research vessel among icy waters and snowy mountains

Shipboard Life in the Antarctic

A bloom of algae from up above

What Exactly Is a Red Tide?

A large, black instrument is hauled onto a ship's deck by researchers wearing hard hats and life vests.

What the Big Picture Can Teach Us About Tiny Ocean Creatures

Banner Credit

Uwe Kils, Wikimedia Commons