This offering is more of a guide than a specific tour. Ever wonder why the ocean isn’t always blue? This phytoplankton guide explains just how many phytoplankton live in the ocean and their influences on ocean water color and other properties. Working with the Kudela Laboratory at the University of California Santa Cruz, we have created this guide which has both general background on phytoplankton, and a detailed phytoplankton identification guide.
Some of the information is highlighted below but the complete scoop on why phytoplankton are cool and important, and the identification guide, can be had by downloading our mobile app, Mobile Ranger Guides.
Phytoplankton unmasked: what makes for greenish brown water characteristic of the Monterey Bay.
What is a red tide? Are they always harmful to people?
What color is the water today? Compare it to the chart. Any guesses as to the current major influences on water color today?
To get the phytoplankton guide simply download our mobile app. You will also get several self-guided mobile tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.
I’m reading this on a computer and wonder if your “Guides” & “Tours” are also available via computer webpage or only through mobile device apps?
Hi Vishnu. Thanks for asking.
As a nice complete self-guided mobile tour experience, with a map, you need to download our app “Mobile Ranger Guides.” However, much of the same content is also available as blog posts on this website. To see the content associated with a given self-guided mobile tour, go to the “Tours” page from the header tab, click on that tour and then scroll down to see all the blog posts associated with that tour. A few tours do not have any blog posts associated with them but most do.
I forgot to say, the Phytoplankton Guide does not have associated blog posts up. Although if you search the site for phytoplankton we have a few random ones.