How to use a microscope to see the wonders of the sea

[eternaljonah]

HI Guys
I have just got a microscope and have been playing with it since a few days. I would love some tips and tricks for seeing the wonders of the sea. I have some questions and wonder if anyone knows the answers
- To see plankton and zooplankton where should I take my sample's? taking a cup of water is that enough or do I need to pull a tiny net to get a higher concentration of it.
- Is there any need to use stains to see these things? and if yes what stains.
- What power magnification is the best to observe the Plankton?I have 4 lens on the microscope 4X, 10X, 40X and 100X oil immersion and a 10X and 15X lens for the eyepiece, what combo is the best for the final viewing?
-I'm sharing these discoveries with students who come diving so anything else you would suggest I look at?
- any books or other suggestions so I can learn a bit more

Much appreciate the advice

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Marine Plankton: Works of Art in the World of the Small
The photos in the link were taken with a point and shoot camera pointed down the eyepiece of a microscope. The live collections came by way of dipping a cup into the water at the beach. The diatoms were from a nearby cliff with a little water added.

 

[eternaljonah]

microscope. The live collections came by way of dipping a cup into the water at the beach. The diatoms were from a nearby cliff with a little water added.

Nice pictures. What magnification are these photos? did you use any stains?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Those are Merry photos and videos, but all she used was sea water in a dish. The magnification varied depending on the size of the animals. Some are large enough to see with the naked eye. I always think about them when I see someone spit in their mask, then rinse it with salt water. There is more stuff in the water than the spit.

 

[smellzlikefish]

You might try using a simple filter system to concentrate the plankton before viewing. For example, you could run the water through a fine-meshed net or even coffee filter and put the detritus onto your slide.

 

[Merry]

For inspiration: Wim van Egmond

 

[drbill]

I find a plankton net essential in gathering enough plankters to be useful. I have used magnifications as low as 10X and as high as 70-100X depending on size. I have a microscope adapter to attach my camera to either a dissecting scope or a standard scope.

 

[Sbiriguda]

Marine Plankton: Works of Art in the World of the Small
The photos in the link were taken with a point and shoot camera pointed down the eyepiece of a microscope. The live collections came by way of dipping a cup into the water at the beach. The diatoms were from a nearby cliff with a little water added.

I thought this kind of photography required much more sophisticated equipment

 

[Sbiriguda]

I have a microscope adapter to attach my camera to either a dissecting scope or a standard scope.

May I ask which is your microscope adapter?

 

[Nick Steele]

I thought this kind of photography required much more sophisticated equipment

You’d be surprised at what can be done. During some of my college courses we would use our phones to grab photos looking into microscopes. Mostly diatoms/zooplankton but most came out nicely.

To OP if you want to see zooplankton and not have them going crazy all over the place maybe look into getting some clear slides. Use a dropper to drop water onto the slide and then cover it up with another slide this will give them less of a water coloumn to move around in and should slow them down for viewing pleasure.