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NOAA – Phytoplankton of the Northwest US shelf ecosystem
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Almost all life on Earth relies on photosynthetic organisms such as plants and algae for oxygen production. In the Northwest U.S. continental shelf ecosystem, microscopic single-celled algae known as phytoplankton are responsible for nearly all primary production.
Phytoplankton of the Northwest U.S. shelf ecosystem
Microscopic algae known as phytoplankton are the base of most marine food webs. Phytoplankton contain chlorophyll which is used to capture sunlight and convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and carbohydrates. – NOAA Fisheries website.
SoundToxins – an early warning program for harmful algal blooms in Puget Sound
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SoundToxins is a diverse partnership of shellfish farmers, fish farmers, environmental learning centers, volunteers, local health jurisdictions, colleges, and Native American tribes that was conceived and initiated by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), and is now codirected by Washington Sea Grant (WSG). SoundToxins has grown from four partners in 2006 to 28 partners in 2017, some of whom monitor multiple sites in Puget Sound.
SoundToxins website
SoundToxins, a diverse partnership of Washington state shellfish and finfish growers, environmental learning centers, Native tribes, and Puget Sound volunteers, is a monitoring program designed to provide early warning of harmful algal bloom events in order to minimize both human health risks and economic losses to Puget Sound fisheries.
SoundToxins
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Volunteers collect salt water samples using a plankton net. They measure water temperature and salinity, ID phytoplankton, and preserve samples for further analysis. It’s part of a Sound-wide study of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Data is entered into an online database accessible by state health officials for real-time public safety appraisal.