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Ocean drifters
A secret world beneath the waves
Introduction
Come and see the largest plankton in the world! This exhibit begins with a 360-degree film exploring the world of the marine plankton that will transport visitors to a secret world beneath the waves. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough FRS, the film combines astonishing images and a newly commissioned musical score, to reveal how the marine plankton influence almost every aspect of our daily lives, and how current climate change is affecting their distributions and abundance with ensuing ramifications for the marine food chain and the ecology of our entire planet.
How does it work?
Although you will stay dry, this exhibit will immerse you in the plankton world. These organisms, smaller than the diameter of a human hair, have created the white cliffs of Dover, fuel our transport with their remains, have created half of the oxygen in the air, and ultimately, through the amazing plankton food web, underpin all sea life and play a central role in the global carbon cycle. You have probably swallowed countless thousands of these amazing creatures when swimming in the sea!
The science behind the Ocean Drifters will reveal how recently changing sea surface temperatures are altering the ecology of the seas off our coasts, changing the marine ecosystem from the seabed to the sea surface.
See all exhibits from 2011