Measuring amount of plankton in sea has implications for carbon storage

The first continuous plankton survey around southern Australia has set off, from the Leeuwin Current off the Western Australia coast to the East Australia Current off NSW. Scientists are using a Continuous Plankton Recorder to monitor phytoplankton and zooplankton over vast areas of the ocean. Plankton produces half of the oxygen we breathe, it directly and indirectly feeds most marine fish, seabirds, whales and turtles, and it locks up large amounts of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean.