We regularly conduct plankton sampling in support of our
benthic and fish surveys as part of wider development
related monitoring programmes and applied research studies.
To date, our plankton sampling has ranged from collection of ichthyoplankton (fish larvae and eggs) samples in the vicinity of nuclear power station cooling water intakes to targeted sampling of zooplankton to study larval development cycles of keys benthic species.
Depending on the specific survey requirement, we use a variety of sampling techniques including:
- Traditional horizontal and vertical plankton nets
- High speed Gulf VII samplers equipped with multiple nets, flow meters and CTD units
- Water sampling
- Niskin bottles, pole samplers or Lund tubes