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Rough study for phytoplankton, center panel

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Rough study for phytoplankton, center panel

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From top, sliver of map with compass rose (or actual compass) with highway lines to balance the lines of the constellations on the right panel (both tied to navigation). Slope sea and Gulf Stream with warm core rings and Crissy's tuna larvae chart overlay. lenses will be mounted over spots where they were found. Below grown tuna follow warm core 'tunnels' deep into ocean to hunt. Colors indicate water temperature.

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from bottom, zooplankton, rising to phytoplankton and fish larvae with big lens revealing tuna larva. Towards the surface we see the exchange of carbon and oxygen atoms rising to the atmostphere

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Top, constellations as seen when you took samples. Moon will be fresnel lens. Northeast sea mounts below with strange glowing fishes, and faint light from research vessel.

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Sea worm?

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Some pretty sea jewelry

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Melosira? overlayed on a chart you may find familiar!

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Striatella? with moon

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I was so lucky to spot this copepod with eggs! I added a carbon atom to show that they capture carbon.

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hit the jackpot with copepods in my last sample from the Riverside beach. This one is carrying eggs on its tail!

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Working on placement of plankton for the lower half of the middle panel. Painting plankton on acetate, running through a paste-up waxer and placing on plexiglass over a ble background. Rather work intensive, Photoshop is probably easier!

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"Above the Earth" - an inspiration for the exchange of carbon and oxygen at the surface of the ocean

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My ideas for how to depict the plankton in the middle panel remind me of 'White Writing' paintings of Mark Tobey

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I think in the left panel I'm going to try focus on the Gulf Stream by trying to depict the current. Which is a challenge but I found a good book about the GS (below). Any info you have about the GS or ocean currents in general from your research may spark more ideas about how I can depict it so feel free to send them along.

I also got a book on zooplankton of the Atlantic. The guide, along with looking at plankton under the microscope will be good inspiration for the middle panel. I'm not expecting to render them scientifically in the final project but instead want to capture their qualities in paint. To do that I need to know how they are structured, which is why I'm doing pretty tight renderings to start. I'm actually thinking of buying some live plankton fish food to study, do you think that's a crazy idea?

Last week I went to the New England Aquarium for inspiration. I didn't get much material for the project there, since I'm focusing on much smaller specimens, but it was fun!

I'm going to do another set of studies for the large paintings, and start preparing my panels for the final project. Once I begin that, I'll post pictures from my studio. Perhaps this spring you could come visit and see my progress.

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Is this a good map to use to indicate where you found the tuna larva? It's where I'm thinking of putting small lenses on the left panel in the spots where you found them.

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Can I expect to find less plankton in the winter along the coast? It seems my samples are less populated lately

Have you sailed over the Gulf Stream? Could you tell you were in in it by color, current or otherwise from the surface? Any other descriptions?

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study for middle panel, plankton population

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Creatures seen under my microscope

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Tuna larva (in progress)

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Red Snapper Larva  (in progress)

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Mackerel larva  (in progress)

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More photos of fish larvae, more "fresh" and how they look in the environment

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More photos of fish larvae, more "fresh" and how they look in the environment

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On the lab website, Joel has a bunch of photos taken by Cedric Guigand (University of Miami). I tried to see if Cedric has his own website and I didn't find one.
https://www.whoi.edu/science/B/FOLFElab/FOLFE_Lab_at_WHOI/Albums/Pages/Fish_larvae.html

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Are tuna larvae part of the nightly migration to the surface?

How deep do grown tuna go to feed, into the twilight zone?

The tuna larva photos seem white, is that because they are out of there environment, are they more transparent in the ocean?

What natural color are the otoliths?

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A Triptych (3 hollow door panels)

Left Panel

Top and middle of panel: Rim of Slope sea (inspired by Marie Tharpe map of ocean floor), with Gulf Stream and warm core rings, small glass lenses placed where on Hernandez chart tuna larvae were found.

Bottom of panel: Ocean surface, being warmed by the sun which is at top left corner

Possible other imagery to incorporate:

Tunnel to twilight, for predators, in warm core ring
Links:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv3br-sw0rU&feature=emb_logo

www.whoi.edu/news-insights/content/a-tunnel-to-the-twilight-zone/

Middle Panel

From bottom to top:
Low light, Millions of zooplankton in sound scattering layer, including fish larvae. Inspired by Ernst Haeckels studies of plankton.

Middle of panel: Fish larvae, large glass lens mounted to panel, focusing on tuna larva and otoliths.

At Top: towards the surface and the light, phyloplankton and photosynthesis oxygen creation, which is rising into the air at very top of panel. Carbon absorption into ocean: using carbon and oxygen atom symbols as graphic elements.

Right Panel

From bottom to top:
Twilight zone, seamounts, strange sea fishes, luminescence.

Nightly migration up to surface
Moonlight above, the pull of tides.

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Here is a link to some plankton I discovered. Do you know what any of them are? 

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Here is a link to some plankton I discovered. Do you know what any of them are? 

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https://youtu.be/ZvmdBeBtJU8

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NEW! Here is a rough idea (click on image to enlarge) of some thoughts I am having for the layout. I want to incorporate an underlying sense of the currents and the unseen life of the ocean in each panel. More detailed description at right, please feel free to edit any of these posts to add your thoughts, ideas, corrections and point me in the right direction for further research. Thank you!

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The Bluefin Tuna competition in South Portland, Maine

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Grass, glass or ghost shrimp

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Imature copepod?

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Not sure what these were, but there were tons of them at one point, 1-4 segments. Later in my coastline sampling they were not there.

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Copepod

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Tuna Larvae and Otolith

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1.  I am thinking of doing a big painting in 3 vertical panels. Can you think of 3 ways to divide your research?

2. Is climate change and ocean heat waves threatening larval fish and plankton? Do Algae Blooms threaten larvae?

3. Do plankton react to tides?

4. What is the difference between an Ocean Heat Wave and a Warm Core Rings.

5. How to plankton create oxygen? and do fish larvae do the same?

6. Are ocean currents changing with climate change and creating or eliminating spawning grounds?