Phytoplankton are the base of the marine food web and are crucial players in the Earth's carbon cycle. The large phytoplankton (red, yellow) have fastest growth rates and dominate where there are lots of nutrients to nourish them at high latitudes and near the equator where nutrient-rich water upwells from the deep ocean. On the other hand, the small phytoplankton (green, blue) are more competitive where nutrients are very low. Read more about this model here: https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/phyto

Phytoplankton fuel ocean life by feeding other plankton, fish, and ultimately bigger creatures. This video explores the diversity of phytoplankton in the oceans and shows why these plant-like organisms play such a crucial role in life on Earth. In some of the images, color-filtering techniques were used to draw out the fine details in the water, but the features are real. See the full transcript on NASA Earth Observatory: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148661/feeding-the-sea | NASA Ear