Phenomer, Phytoplankton Citizen Science

Since the summer of 2013, a multidisciplinary team coordinated by Ifremer has enlisted the help of the general public to report any unusual phenomena in the appearance of seawater potentially linked to microalgae (coloured water, abundant moss, species mortality).
Microalgae play an essential ecological and economic role in coastal ecosystems. At the base of the oceanic trophic chain, they are the food of many herbivores and filter-feeders (such as shellfish), which in turn are eaten by carnivores (secondary consumers). This gives them a strong economic impact (shellfish farming, fisheries).
Microalgae are the lungs of our planet thanks to their photosynthetic activity, which produces more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere.
The seasonal proliferation of certain species of microalgae (sometimes toxic for marine fauna or humans) can reflect imbalances in oceanic ecosystems (water and air temperature, salinity, nutrients, marine currents, etc.).
What is Phenomer?
The study of the biodiversity and ecology of microalgae relies primarily on the acquisition of field data and the recording of chemical (pH, dissolved oxygen), physical (suspended matter, temperature) and biological (chlorophyll) parameters. The Phenomer project relies on the observation and involvement of citizens through two actions:
1. Creating a network of people to report unusual phenomena in the appearance of seawater, linked to microalgae proliferation (coloured water, excessive foams, massive fish mortality). The general public is thus called upon to signal any excessive proliferation of microalgae. Although they are microscopic, microalgae become perfectly visible to the naked eye in the event of a heavy proliferation. When the density of microalgae is extremely high, the sea water will turn green, red or brown, a phenomenon known as "coloured water". This network should enable quicker intervention by scientists and institutions in charge of the monitoring, in order to sample the sea water and analyse it as quickly as possible. This network, which has been deployed along the Brittany coast since spring 2013, is in extending to the whole of the French coast actually.
2. This project also incorporates an educational and scientific component in partnership with a scientific travel organizer, OSI-CETIS, who take young people and adults on cruises to observe cetaceans and sampling phytoplankton in the south west of France. Phenomer is also involved in educational programs of National Education by school workshops in two aims : explain a scientific protocol to children and teenagers, and outreach youngers people.
3. An other characteristic of colored water is that they can be detected by remote sensing. Nantes University is a partner who informs Phenomer of events before than they can visible from the coast. Phenomer then provides analysis results to confirm the satellite observation data of microalgae pigments.

To carry out these initiatives, a multidisciplinary team of scientists working on a diversity of themes (biology, ecology, remote sensing, chlorophyll a ), and many environmental associations, boaters, nauticals clubs contribute voluntarily.