Scientists Unlock Secrets of the Great Australian Bight

A supplied microscope image obtained on Feb. 27, 2023, shows a mixed phytoplankton community. Adelaide scientists have revealed how the ocean's tiniest plants, pico- and nano-phytoplankton, underpin one of Australia's prime marine habitats. AAP Image/Supplied by University of Rhode Island/Stephanie Anderson - NASA Earth Expeditions

The largest specimens of nano-phytoplankton barely equal the width of the finest strand of human hair, while impossibly small pico-phytoplankton is 10-100 times tinier again.

Although virtually invisible, the two self-feeding microscopic organisms represent the beginning of the food chain for the entirety of Earth’s aquatic mammal population including that which thrives in Australia’s prime marine habitats.