Microscopic
algae, phytoplankton, are sometimes called the grasses of the sea. Just
like land plants, they consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through
photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are an integral component of the global
carbon cycle, which is responsible for regulating the temperature of the
planet. They are also the first link in the food chain for
all marine creatures. Their primary consumers are the zooplankton, who
in turn become food for larger animals.
An
instrument for monitoring the abundance of phytoplankton and small
zooplankton, the Flow Cytometer And Microscope (FlowCAM), detects and
takes images of micro-organisms from a stream of water siphoned directly
from the ocean. It has a rudimentary image segmentation capability, used
to crop out individual organisms. The instrument is used by marine
biologists to estimate the population sizes of different plankton
species. In particular, scientists are interested in potentially harmful
organisms.
