Marine Plankton
Milford Haven
Pembrokeshire UK
Aims of the Site
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To share marine plankton information
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Display photos of plankton biodiversity
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Provide an educational resource
Welcome. This site covers coastal plankton washing on to the stunning shores of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. There is an amazing biodiversity of microscopic life living in every drop of seawater. Collections are made around Milford Haven, part of the Special Area of Conservation, with the most regular ones made in Dale. Before looking at the details of The Species check the specimens chosen each month in the Previous Photo of the Month. The monthly Blog is full of photos of the latest species found. You may want to have a look at the Biodiversity page that gives a plankton overview while Methods looks specifically at how the samples are taken and photographed. More below.
Photo of the Month
Record high temperatures have occurred in the UK this month including the sea. It is well known that warming seas favour the gelatinous plankton and for several years there have been mass strandings of different jellyfish species. One of these occurred at the end of June. All across the south-west, including Pembrokeshire, huge numbers of the Blue Jellyfish Cyanea lamarckii appeared. On 1st July they were in Milford Haven and three small juveniles (4 - 6cm in diameter) were present in my two plankton samples, one is illustrated here. By the time the next samples were taken on 14th July they had disappeared. Up close they are quite beautiful and complex. They do sting but not as bad as some!