Does not going out to sea and not having a plankton net mean you're completely out of luck when it comes to observing marine plankton?

[pandahead_hoimoon]

It’s been three years since I first looked through a microscope. As a complete beginner to plankton biology back then, I’ve added countless new species to my list over the past three years, especially common freshwater ones. Since I live in a coastal city, I’ve always been curious about marine plankton. However, due to various reasons, I haven’t had the time to take a boat out for sampling, nor do I have the proper equipment. Usually, I just use a plastic water bottle to scoop up sediment from ponds and streams. But I’m well aware that this method wouldn’t work in the clear ocean where plankton density is low. So, under the conditions of not being able to go out to sea and lacking a plankton net, am I completely out of luck when it comes to observing marine plankton?

Some of my my most recent plankton observations these days, taken from coastal mangrove mudflats. But since this area is right at a river estuary, I don’t think they count as strictly marine plankton：

[jhbratton]

There will be plankton in the waves breaking on the shore so no, you don’t need to go to sea. And any net will catch some plankton but obviously the finer the mesh, the smaller the organisms you can catch. Your photos are largely unicellular diatoms and you will need a very fine net to retain those.

[paul_dennehy]

Agreed, I got to use a plankton net this year and I was surprised by how large the organisms were that it was catching. No diatoms, Cyanobacteria, or any of the unicellular stuff I’m used to seeing in pond water samples- mostly polychaete and crustacean larvae and copepods. I got some neat saltwater diatoms right on the beach though.