When the Sun is strong and the currents mount to the surface, an astonishing phenomenon occurs. So gigantic that it is visible from space. A blooming, an explosion of life. This life which appears is called plankton. Floating life.
Because it cannot move itself and drifts with the water. This blooming gets its energy from the sun. It occurs between the surface and the first 100 meters depth, where the rays penetrate the ocean.
Firstly, there are tiny algae, which spread like an immense floating prairie between two expanses of water. Just the biomass thus produced every year represents half the vegetation of the planet. Some microalgae resemble distant galaxies. These are protists, very ancient organisms.
Despite their complexity, most of them are nothing but a single cell surrounded by a silica or lime skeleton. At this level, the distinction between plant and animal is blurred. Some of these green cells even have limbs, which push them upwards, augmenting their surface area exposed to the sun. All these microalgae consume carbon and produce in return oxygen. Half of the air we breathe comes from these microalgae.
The ocean is the blue lung of the planet.