DrPlanktonguy, 1 month ago

Weekend #Plankton #Factoid 🦐🦠
The ubiquitous tool of #zooplankton #science is the Plankton Net. The first documented use was by British surgeon Dr John Vaughan Thompson to catch the brightly coloured copepods Sapphirina and barnacle larvae. Darwin brought these nets on the HMS Beagle. Originally fine muslin, then silk, now are highly accurate sized meshes of nylon. Modern quantitative #oceanography nets with removable cod-end have been standardized since late 1800s and named for Victor Hensen.

image/jpeg sketch of a bagged net hanging from a bar with a hoop opening and tied at the bottom. From HMS Challenger Expedition. Public Domain.
Photo of a plankton net being retrieved via a winch from a sampling stage on a ship by a technican. Photo from DFO. Public Domain.
image/jpeg a microscopic photo of a highly accurate grid of white nylon plastic against a black background. Nitex mesh.