The “EN572” cruise aboard the R/V Endeavor was a success.  My goals on this cruise were to link the phytoplankton communities growing in the surface with the particle types sinking out of the surface.  We observed a very abundant and diverse phytoplankton community, including many different species of diatom and dinoflagellates.

The sinking particles were dominated by large, fluffy aggregates.  The aggregates contained many of the phytoplankton cells that we observed in the surface waters.

Now that we are all back on land, it is time to analyze the samples and all the data that we collected.  Stay tuned!