LUMEN Christi Catholic College students have learnt about plankton that live in the ocean off the Far South Coast.
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On Wednesday, November 18 Professor Patrick De Deckker from the Australian National University visited the school to meet a group of 20 naturalists and school students to introduce them to the diversity of plankton to be found off the Bega Valley‘s coast.
Professor De Deckker gave a presentation describing the plankton to be found near the coast and their importance in terms of the carbon and silica cycles as well as a brief overview of food webs in the oceans.
The group was also shown how to use microscopes to identify different sorts of plankton.
Some of the plankton samples were collected from Twofold Bay and live samples were collected from Merimbula Wharf early on the morning of the workshop.
After a shared summary of findings, Professor De Deckker explained how significant plankton is in highlighting changes in the oceans and as a marker of climate change.
His presentation was enlightening and the identification of plankton gave attendees a guided exploration into the unknown realms of microscopic ocean life.
This was one of the Atlas of Life/Sapphire Coast Marine Society’s Celebration of Science workshops.
To learn about taking part in future activities, click here or talk to Libby Hepburn on 6495 0917.
Also, on December 4-5 the Atlas of Life is running its fourth bioblitz in the region at the Wallgoot catchment - see the above website for plenty of surveys that you can join to learn with experts about local wildlife.