WEBVTT - Why Is Plankton Our Tiniest Unsung Hero? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.480 Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:11.320 brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. One of Earth's unsung heroes, 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.840 is also among its tiniest. Plankton, a single celled algae. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:18.959 It's barely visible to the eye, but it contributes to 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.360 some of the world's most important resources. It's essential to 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.480 the food chain. It's a main supplier of oxygen, and 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.240 it's the fuel that keeps our cars running and our 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.520 homes heated. These organisms, no bigger than a human hair, 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.720 float in the sunny upper parts of the ocean. The 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:40.320 two main types of plankton, phytoplankton and zooplankton, support one another. 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.720 Phytoplankton and organisms so small that millions can fit in 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.720 one drop of water, produces its own energy through photosynthesis. 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:54.000 It accounts for nearly half of all photosynthesis on the planet. Zoloplankton, 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.600 which are tiny animals and crustaceans like copa pods, along 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.640 with other small fish and marine creatures, eat phytoplankton, then 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.280 become food for bigger fish and so on up the 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.880 food chain, from seals to dolphins. Virtually every creature in 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.520 the ocean eats either plankton or an organism that depends 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.679 on plankton in a David versus Goliath like battle. Filter 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.840 feeding Baleen whales like the humpback rely on tiny organisms 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.720 such as plankton and krill. Like a filter, these whales 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:27.639 take in huge gulps of water, then use their tongues 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.000 to push out liquid so food like krill and plankton 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:36.720 remain right. Whales also swim open mouthed through plankton filled waters. 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.840 They trapped the plankton, and their tongue pushes the organisms 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.800 down their throat. But plankton's role in the food chain 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.360 doesn't stop in the ocean. Polar bears and seabirds rely 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:51.360 on plankton fueled meals like seals and fish. Even humans 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.360 count on fish and therefore plankton to survive. Americans alone 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.880 eat around fifteen and a half pounds or about seven 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.640 kilos of fish and shellfish per purse in per year. 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.800 That's a whole out of plankton. Plankton itself is even 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.680 making its way toward dinner tables. It's not common in 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.640 restaurants yet, but algel Leon and new Mendez, both chefs 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.840 of Michelin starred restaurants in Britain, added plankton to a 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:19.560 special event menu in This included delicacies like a plankton 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.840 cocktail and a plankton risotto. Leon told the UK newspaper 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.040 Metro it's velvety and dry before mixing it with liquid. 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:31.080 Silky ones mixed oily and elegant, pungent on the nose, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.800 yet subtle and leaves a long finish in the mouth. 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.120 While it's still rare in restaurants, plankton is slowly catching on. 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:43.959 According to fine dining lovers, Plankton producers like Spanish agriculture 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.440 company Phytoplankton Merino are growing the microalgae for human consumption, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.600 and one chef even tried his hand at phytoplankton bread. 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:57.680 Plankton's earthly contributions go beyond the food chain. Marine plants 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:02.480 like phytoplankton kelp and algil plank din produce of earths oxygen. 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:07.519 In fact, Prochlorococcus, a type of phytoplankton, produces the oxygen 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.960 for one out of every five breaths a human takes, 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:16.200 and Phytoplankton's superpowers don't stop there. Not only do they 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:20.360 help produce oxygen through photosynthesis, phytoplankton also take carbon from 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.440 the atmosphere during the process of living and store it 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.280 deep in the ocean when they die, which ultimately helps 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.760 curb climate change. This is similar to the processed trees 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.760 used to store carbon in leaves, and since photosynthesis consumes 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.960 carbon dioxide, the carbon is basically stored in each plankton. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.720 One group of scientists found that phytoplankton incorporate up to 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.640 forty five to fifty billion tons of inorganic carbon into 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.480 their cells, and that petroleum we use to fuel our cars. 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.600 It's made through a process that dates back to ancient seas, 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:59.360 and it also involves that tiny superhero of an organism, plankton. 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:04.040 When plankton dye, they sink to the bottom of the oceans. Here, 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.880 debris settles on top of them, and chemical reactions transform 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.200 the materials into waxy carrogen and bitumen, a black tar 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.640 that's one of the main ingredients of petroleum. The carriagin 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.240 also undergoes further changes as it heats and it becomes 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.599 what's known as crude oil, or if temperatures are even hotter, 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:28.159 natural gas. Plankton may be essential, but this small organism 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.560 is also a little bit tricksy. Scientists have long struggle 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:35.200 to accurately predict phytoplankton numbers and growth rates, but that 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.000 changed in two thousand five thanks to NASA's satellite observations. 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:43.400 VANASA reported that scientists can figure out phytoplankton numbers based 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:48.000 on how green water is. When phytoplankton't get stressed by 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:52.400 cold water, they become less green. Phytoplankton rich waters become 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.840 greener as conditions and growth rates improve. Oh And by night, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:01.200 plankton filled water can glow through the organ s's bioluminescence 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:07.960 electric blue, green, red, or orange. Researchers estimate phytoplankton makes 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.520 up one percent of all of Earth's biomass. That's the 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.640 total mass of organisms, but that number is dwindling. A 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.400 study published in the journal Nature in July showed that 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:24.400 gradually warming ocean waters have destroyed some of Earth's phytoplankton 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.760 since ninety Whether we know it or not, all humans 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:33.080 rely on this microalgae. That's why a decrease or more 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:41.640 is worrisome. Today's episode was written by Stephanie Vermillion and 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.080 produced by Tyler Clay. For more on this and lots 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.080 of other supergreen topics visit how stuff works dot com. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.120 Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. More podcasts from 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.880 my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:54.720 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.