Ever wonder what is in that seawater you accidentally swallow while playing at the beach on holiday?
Photographer David Liittschwager captured this amazing shot of a single drop of water magnified 25 times to reveal an entire ecosystem of hidden threats which consist of crab larva, diatoms, bacteria, fish eggs, zooplankton, and even worms. This stomach-churning photograph shows the types of microfauna crawling around in just a drop of seawater.
National Geographic said of the photo:
‘Under a magnifier, a splash of seawater teems with life.
‘The planktonic soup includes bug-like copepods; long, glassy arrowworms; coiled filaments of cyanobacteria; rectangular algae called diatoms; fish eggs; and a big-eyed larval crab the size of a rice grain.’
This photo was taken aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette off Kona, in September 2006.