The two most prominent types of plankton in the ocean are zooplankton, which are tiny animal organisms, and phytoplankton, which are plantlike. (Other forms of plankton include bacterial and fungal.

Plankton are mostly microscopic algae and animals found throughout Earth's oceans, seas and lakes, although a few species are visible to humans. Unlike fish, plankton can't swim against the current.

Climate change may also affect plankton numbers. As a slow-growing species that produces very few young, basking sharks are particularly vulnerable to extinction, which is why the animal is listed ...

Image caption, This is one type of plankton viewed through a microscope. In fact, many scientists believe that these tiny plants and animals are amongst the most important in our seas. They may ...

plankton and small fish,” Schmidt Ocean said on X. While sea jellies are often casually called jellyfish, many scientists prefer to stick with just “jelly” because the animals aren’t fish.

The result? A frightening phenomenon that's making seawater more acidic, spelling disaster for many marine animals, from plankton and coral up the food chain to sea stars, salmon, sea otters, whales — ...