Oh. My. God. I’ve just found my first Hyperiidae amphipod! #marineplankton 🦑

My new chin rest. #catsonsky

Visited Castle Acre Priory and Castle today - such a pretty village! #norfolk

“Flip the meat” Best line ever. From Wake up Dead Man (Knives Out)

A little and large Ctenophora larvae (probably sea gooseberries, Pleurobrachia pileus) from October. #marinebiology #zooplankton #microscopy #plankton #ctenophore

Found my first y-larva (Facetotectan) yesterday- a mysterious and parasitic sister group to the barnacles. No-one has seen an adult and no-one yet knows their hosts… This is a naupilus stage and maybe a moulted exuvia #marineplankton

My favouritist present from my hubby. The only problem? The cats think it’s real, and not in a good way!

My post for Boxing Day is the most ‘boxy’ diatom I could find in my archives, Amphitetras antediluviana! #marineplankton 🦑

Today is my second favourite day in the supermarket - discount turkey day. My first favourite day in the supermarket is discount Easter egg day.

I don’t know what this is - Google lens suggests Sphagnum majus (a bryophyte). I found it in a marine plankton sample and I thought it was so pretty! #marineplankton 🦑

I’ll be tuning in! Support my pal @lilithepunk.bsky.social and listen to BBC Woman’s Hour, and spend your Christmas money on her book!

A living snowflake ❄️ for you to celebrate Christmas! Happy holidays! Moon jellyfish ephyra. #marineplankton 🦑

Yorkshire puddings ready for tomorrow!

Everyone rushing to the shops the night before Christmas. Great time-lapse of all the activity as the tide comes in at Wembury 🌊 video by @paulnaylormarinephoto #Wembury #MarineLife #CoastalMagic #TimeLapse #OceanMoments

Cytoplasmic flow of Rhizosolenia styliformis. This chunky diatom rarely appears in my plankton samples, but when it does, you can’t miss it because it’s huge! So big, you can see the contents of the cell moving about, and the nucleus (the dark band)! #marineplankton 🦑

I do believe I like Taylor Swift’s music! It’s like Dawson’s Creek in musical form. I approve.

Is this some kind of fancy Patellina sp.? #marineplankton #protistsonsky #foraminifera 🦑

The sweetest little sea snail larva. #marineplankton 🦑

“Hey Siri, play BBC World Service” “Now playing The Rolling Stones” 🤷🤦

Anyone here use PeerTube? Thoughts?

My Instagram algorithm has been kind to me and I live in a bubble of marine biology and kind folk. When I’m reminded about the ‘other side’ of social media, I really want to abandon it.

Beautiful Bacillaria paxillifera, a colonial diatom, from today’s sample. #marineplankton 🦑

Cromer giving total Baywatch vibes this morning

The Norfolk Plankton Image Library (NPIL) now has the images and videos of over 3000 pelagic organisms in its database! #marineplankton 🦑

An appendicularian (larvacean) from my sample this week. I won’t go on about how awesome they are - I’ve posted about them loads. So just enjoy! #marineplankton 🦑

Cappuccino sea and seabird footprints.

Me: has a passing and barely negative interaction with a stranger. My brain: “That’s it, I’m never leaving the house again. All humans are bastards and I can’t deal with them” My body: reaches for diazepam All in a days work!

F1 the movie. That was…a thing.

This Spionidae (bristle worm) larva must be getting dizzy! #marineplankton 🦑

My day so far: Birdwatch Data entry for NPIL Make lunch (pasta) Make a light sabre hilt Make a chocolate cheesecake I’m feeling pretty accomplished tbh!

Loving this behaviour! (Tried adding alt text but not sure if it worked)

I have a new breakfast hobby. Watching the birbs in my front garden. So far this morning I’ve seen a lady blackbird, a dunnock, a robin, and a wood pigeon.

Always a pleasure to see a Tripos sp. dinoflagellate in one of my samples. I don’t see them too often so when I spot one I do get a little excited! #marineplankton 🦑

There are so many nematodes in my lab tank! #marineplankton 🦑

I checked my lab tank today, and it’s full of life! I’ll show you guys some of the critters over the next few days, starting with these gorgeous snails, Peringia ulvae. 🦑

I bet you’re wondering how many different copepod nauplii I’ve photographed over the last 3 years, aren’t you? Well, I can tell you that it’s 408! Including this little pooper (yes, it poops!) #marineplankton 🦑

Glorious! A male Pseudocalanus copepod from my latest plankton sample. Very few copepods at the moment. #marineplankton 🦑

Ok, so I want to grow fruits and veg. I have a large bed that has been overrun with herbs. What should I be doing now? Prepping soil? Planting raspberry and blackberry canes? Total beginner, Norfolk UK #gardening

An alternative view of a Serpulidae (bristle worm) larva! Such a cutie! #marineplankton 🦑

A larval-stage Brama pomfret clings to a ctenophore (comb jelly). #pomfret #brama #bramidae #larvalfish #ctenophore #combjelly #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Waiting for my local library to open so I can get a book on growing fruit and veg. The hope is to do it with my home ed son - not sure how that will work out!

Anyone else have the flavour of autism that has no verbal filter? Often amusing, sometimes regrettable.

I /think/ this is a Sabellariidae larva (a kind of bristle worm), but a little more mature than the ones I usually see. #marineplankton 🦑

I know not the identity of this egg - a mollusc maybe? Keep watching for a timelapse. #marineplankton 🦑

When you live in the country… this went on for 15 minutes!

I’m feeling punchy. This whole ‘overdiagnosis’ of neurodivergence and mental health issue, and the rhetoric ‘folks have forgotten how to deal with real life’ really pisses me off. I will be filing it in the shit bin, along with ‘cheer up love, it might never happen’ and ‘buck up, it’s not that bad’

Get in! 158 examples of Centropages hamatus now in the NPIL database. #marineplankton 🦑

A busy little Harpacticoida copepod. #marineplankton 🦑