This is the last thing you'd expect to photograph at Tower Island! After a wonderful day with booby and frigate chicks all round, we decided to explore the marine environment of Darwin Bay: the caldera in which we were anchored. We went one step further than the usual deep-water snorkeling to the microscopic level. Dragging a plankton net behind the Zodiac resulted in a great catch. Under our newly installed stereoscopic microscope, we discovered an array of organisms, displaying the results on our TV monitors, for all to see.
Present, were the occasional diatoms and other phytoplanktons (photosynthesizing), but there was a gasp when this fish larva and the crab below it filled the screen in full colour. Most fish and crustacea will spend their early days as 'plankton' which is Greek for 'wandering'; they go wherever the currents take them. This fish however, has a tadpole-like tail, indicating a certain amount of mobility, making it 'nektonic' as opposed to being a 'wanderer'.
As we watched the tiny crab, it appeared to be eating several copepods that were nearby. This served as a reminder of how the foodchains of the oceans start at such a microscopic level, terminating in the great fish, cetaceans and sea birds we all enjoy observing so much.
