The microscopic beauty of plankton – and their predators

Plankton form the base of marine and freshwater food webs. They consist of phytoplankton (plants) and zooplankton (animals). Their name derives from the Greek word for “drifter”, since they are too tiny to fight tides or currents. Phytoplankton oxygenate the ocean through photosynthesis, enabling marine animals to thrive, and produce about half the world’s oxygen.  Yet despite their abundance and fundamental role for life on Earth, their microscopic nature makes them easy to ignore.  “The most exciting thing of the whole project was the discovery of this parallel, beautiful, strange, complex world, “ says photographer Jan van IJken, “there’s so much beauty around the corner that you’re not aware of“.