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.
![Phytoplankton observed on EN572 cruise](https://mlml.sjsu.edu/cdurkin/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2017/08/EN572_phytoplankton_collage.jpg)
The sinking particles were dominated by large, fluffy aggregates. The aggregates contained many of the phytoplankton cells that we observed in the surface waters.
![Aggregate containing diatoms](https://mlml.sjsu.edu/cdurkin/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2017/08/STST_A_40x_aggregate_8a.jpg)
Now that we are all back on land, it is time to analyze the samples and all the data that we collected. Stay tuned!