Microscopic plant-like organisms that drift in water bodies and produce their own food through photosynthesis. These tiny organisms form the base of aquatic food webs and produce much of the world's oxygen.
From Greek 'phyton' meaning plant and 'planktos' meaning wandering or drifting. The term was coined in the late 1800s as marine biologists distinguished between plant-like and animal-like members of the plankton community.
Phytoplankton are the invisible forests of our oceans! These microscopic marine plants produce between 50-80% of the oxygen we breathe, making them more important for our survival than all the rainforests combined. When phytoplankton bloom in massive numbers, they can turn entire sections of ocean green or red and are so abundant they can be seen from space satellites, creating swirling patterns of color across hundreds of miles of ocean.
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