This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography in Marseille, France, have discovered something surprising in the Mediterranean Sea: giant chains of phytoplankton. To find them, Scripps biological oceanographer Mark Ohman, phytoplankton expert Karine Leblanc, from Marseille, and SIO visiting scholars Sven Gastauer and Jeff Ellen used a special robot called the "Zooglider." Invented at Scripps in 2019, the Zooglider is a torpedo-shaped glider equipped with a high-tech camera called "Zoocam," a sonar device called "Zonar" and an underwater microphone.
While most ocean tools disturb the water, the Zooglider glides silently, taking photos of marine life exactly as it exists in nature. For years, researchers used nets and water bottles to collect samples. However, this study, now published in Limnology and Oceanography Letters, revealed a major problem: Those traditional tools break the fragile phytoplankton chains, making them look much smaller than they really are.
Thanks to the Zooglider's noninvasive camera, the team spotted chains more than 10 millimeters long—far larger than anything seen in previous samples. This discovery changes how scientists understand the ocean's food web. These giant chains are so large that most tiny sea animals, known as zooplankton, simply cannot eat them.
Because they are too big to be eaten, these elongated diatoms (including Guinardia and Proboscia) and other algae may sink to the deep ocean floor, changing how carbon and other nutrients move through the sea. "This finding shakes up some historical perspectives," said Ohman. The researchers believe these giant primary producers are likely found throughout the world ocean, but they have remained hidden until now.
By using the Zooglider, scientists can finally see the true size of some of the ocean's smallest inhabitants. Ohman et al, Giant phytoplankton revealed by in situ imaging, Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1002/lol2.70163 Journal information: Limnology and Oceanography Letters Provided by University of California - San Diego BA art history, MA material culture.
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