Planktonia: The Nightly Migration of the Ocean's Smallest Creatures

by Erich Hoyt

When people hear the word migration, they think of animals that move from a feeding area to a breeding area and back each year. But the greatest migration on Earth happens twice every night. The movement is largely vertical and performed by plankton followed by predatory fish, squid, octopus and other species that have acquired a taste for plankton. The migration starts deep in the waters of the ocean at sunset. As they move, the plankton nibble on plant plankton and other tasty morsels in the water and, eventually, some on each other. The feeding ends just before dawn when the plankton retreat to the depths of the ocean to hide during the day until the next evening, when they migrate back up the water column.

In Planktonia, Erich Hoyt invites readers to dive into the dazzling nighttime ocean. Countless microscopic plankton -- larval creatures such as ornate ghost pipefish, left-handed hermit crabs and bony-eared assfish -- ascend to the upper waters to feed, returning to the depths before sunrise. These tiny planktonic creatures are delicate and beautiful; some look terrifying; and most look nothing like the creatures they will become as adults. This great vertical migration attracts larger adult creatures, too, from the solitary 6-inch (15 cm) bigfin reef squid and the fierce and hungry 6 1/2 foot (2 m) female blanket octopus, which is up to 40,000 times heavier than her male mate. Everyone comes here for the midnight feast, and they are all ravenously hungry.

Chapters in this book include:

Hawai'i: From Bluewater to Blackwater Awesome Anilao The Gulf Stream Procession of Life Blackwater White Sea Precious Life of Plankton Blackwater Unlimited From Blackwater Passion to Protection. All life in the ocean depends on plankton. Plankton plays a key role in sequestering carbon against climate change. The great nightly vertical migration highlights the importance of protecting not only ocean species but also ecosystems that embrace ocean processes from the depths of the sea to surface waters.

Genres: Biology, Nonfiction, Ecology, Environment, Nature

176 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2022

About the author

Erich Hoyt has spent much of his life on or near the sea, working with whales and dolphins and marine conservation. An award-winning author, he has written or co-written 25 books and hundreds of magazine articles on whales, dolphins, as well as the deep sea, ants, insects, wild plants and other subjects.

His latest books include Planktonia (2022, 176pp, 150+ photos) and Strange Sea Creatures (2021), both of which offer a deep dive into the new species scientists are discovering in the ocean, some of them no larger than a fingernail. In 2019, he produced an expanded, updated edition of his best-selling Orca: The Whale Called Killer, lavishly illustrated with 90 all new photos, illustrations and maps. Before those books, Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (2017) chronicled the 40-year revolution in whale research with first-hand stories and insights into the lives of these highly social, intelligent mammals and the drive to save their habitat. Other books include the award-winning Creatures of the Deep (2014) and Weird Sea Creatures (2013) — both of which explored the frontiers of the deep sea with state of the art photography and tales of bizarre new species.

Erich is currently Research Fellow with WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation in the UK. For the past 20 years, he has jointly directed the first killer whale (orca) study in eastern Russia (in Kamchatka), an international collaboration with Russian scientists. The project won the prestigious Klüh Prize for Innovation in Science ($10,000 prize) from Germany. Erich is also a member of the International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas and co-chair of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Area Task Force.

Erich has authored numerous conservation and scientific papers and reports as a consultant and advisor for international conservation groups and governments and is considered an authority on whales and dolphins, marine-protected areas and marine conservation, whale watching and ecotourism. He has given talks in Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Iceland, Mexico, Chile, Canada, U.S., Germany and the Caribbean. He has also taught as a visiting lecturer at the Ohio State University, the University of Edinburgh, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Erich’s magazine and newspaper credits include: National Geographic, Natural History, Geographical, New Scientist, Canadian Geographic, The Sunday Times (London), The Guardian, The New York Times, Hakai, Defenders, International Wildlife. Twice a James Thurber Writer-in-Residence, and a Vannevar Bush Fellow at MIT and Harvard in 1985-86, he has 15 magazine and book awards including the Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the American Society of Journalists & Authors, Inc., in New York (2002) and the Choice selection as one of its Outstanding Academic Books (2012).

Three of his adult nonfiction books, The Earth Dwellers, Insect Lives and Orca: The Whale Called Killer, have been optioned for films. His books for children (age 10+) include Weird Sea Creatures, Whale Rescue, Meeting the Whales and Riding with the Dolphins (all published by Firefly Books) and Extinction A-Z. His books have been published in 15 languages in 25 countries.

A dual Canadian-American citizen, Erich lives in Dorset, England, with his wife and four children.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos of mesopelagic zooplankton by practitioners of a particular kind of scuba diving, where the diver (and photographer) hangs out quietly and for long periods of time in the open water column at night, far from land and light. Vast numbers of tiny animals populate the mesopelagic zone, just below the level of sunlight penetration, during the day, and then rise to the surface (the epipelagic) at night, to feast on the phytoplankton that have been accumulating calories and carbon via photosynthesis during the day. These animals are incredibly diverse, including magically floating and swimming creatures such as jellyfishes and comb jellies and salps, as well as hardly-recognizable larvae of otherwise familiar large animals such as fish and crab and squid. And then there are small unfamiliar, but no less extraordinary, creatures such as pteropods (swimming sea slugs!) and parasitic amphipods (shrimp-like crustaceans that look like the xenomorphs of the Alien movies and similarly eat their hosts from the inside-out). The photos are consistently gorgeous, and, rather unusually for this sort of book, there is a serious if not always successful effort to explain the biology and natural history of each of the organisms. Not just a pretty picture (book).

[Giuseppe Notarbartolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may seem counterintuitive that a world-renowned expert on whales—the largest creatures on Earth—would introduce readers to the realm of plankton, the smallest organisms drifting in the ocean. Yet, there is a fascinating connection: plankton is the primary food source that sustains the immense body mass of most whales. In Planktonia, Erich Hoyt takes us on a journey through the ocean's depths, inviting us to appreciate the beauty of these minute organisms. This rich tapestry includes various plankton species and larvae from a myriad of marine creatures, all of which form the foundation of the oceanic food web. As these tiny beings migrate daily from the deep sea to the surface and back, Planktonia not only offers insights into their biology but also showcases their extraordinary diversity in shapes and colours. Readers may wonder about the purpose of such dazzling beauty hidden in the darkness of the abyss and within their almost invisible size. Fortunately, this beauty is vividly revealed through the book’s outstanding photographs, celebrating the intricate world of plankton.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful oversize book of close-up photos of tiny marine creatures, mostly tropical, worldwide. These were taken (generally) during night-time dives, known as blackwater diving. This has become a popular niche sport, and also has led to discovery of a number of previously-unknown species. Additionally, many of the photos are of juvenile creatures, which are hard to identify.

Regardless, the main attraction here is the photos, which are all high quality and well-reproduced, a typically classy production by Firefly Books. If you have a diver or marine photographer on your to-be-gifted list, this would be one to consider. As usual, start by reading the publisher's intro above. Strong 4 stars, high marks.

[Richard Archambault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing photographs and incredible creatures. If you asked someone to draw what they thought alien life might look like, some of them would certainly look like the creatures in this book.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great photos!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous book, but I’m still not really sure what a salp is.