Phytoplankton samples were collected on July 8, 2026 at Bullock Reach and analyzed in the laboratory shortly after collection.
The water temperature was 21.7 °C, the salinity was 27.4 PSU, and the chlorophyll a was 1.09 ug/L.
The qualitative tow net sample had a long filtration time. It had a dark brown coloration and contained jellyfish.
The analysis of the quantitative whole water sample revealed a total of 625,000 cells/L. The microflagellates were found at 367,000 cells/L. The most predominant phytoplankton genera were Thalassiosira spp. at 93,000 cells/L, Chaetoceros spp. at 60,000 cells/L, and Skeletonema spp. at 13,000 cells/L.
200x phase contrast image of Coscinodiscus spp.
Coscinodiscus is a widespread genus of solitary, disc-shaped diatoms. It is often regarded as one of the largest marine planktonic diatom genera with 400 – 500 described taxa. One singular freshwater species has also been identified.