Microscopic Life in a Drop of Ocean Water

What lives in a drop of ocean water? In this video, Quinten, a microhobbyist explains the microscopic food webs that have a big impact on our ecosystems by recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. At the base of these marine food webs there are diatoms, single cell algae that produce over 20% of the oxygen we breathe. These diatoms are eaten by ciliates, which are single celled organisms that use hair-like cilia to move around. Both the diatoms and ciliates are in turn consumed by microscopic crustaceans called copepods, which serve as a food source for a wide variety of marine life. These organisms are part of the reason why conserving our oceans is so crucial!