The Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey - CPR Survey

16/04/2025

Plankton may be among the smallest creatures in the ocean, but their significance is anything but small. These microscopic organisms, from tiny fish larvae to

19/03/2025

10/03/2025

Ever wondered what it's like onboard a scientific research vessel?

Follow weekly updates from the Denman Marine Voyage, whose work includes deploying a Continuous Plankton Recorder, as they sail south to the Denman Glacier region, in East Antarctica.

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/denman-marine-voyage-update-7-march-2025/

Welcome to our firstly weekly update on the Denman Marine Voyage, a 60-day collaborative science voyage to the Denman Glacier region.

24/02/2025

The Royal Research Ship, Discovery, from which Sir Alister Hardy developed the Continuous Plankton Recorder, is being painstakingly restored in Dundee, Scotland to mark the centenary of the Discovery voyage. Textile artist, Caroline Hack recently visited our lab here in Plymouth to learn more about the CPR Survey to support her work in the planned celebratory exhibition. Read more here

Textile artist Caroline Hack dives into the connections between stitches and Scotland's whaling history.

31/01/2025

CPR Research Fellow, Dr Clare Ostle, shared highlights from recent work using 25 years of the North Pacific CPR Survey at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium this week.

While in Alaska, Clare also delivered some of our PlankTags to Kinetics Lab in Anchorage, to continue collecting measurements alongside CPR data. These sensors, attached to the top of the CPR body, help us capture crucial details about seawater characteristics, giving us fine-scale insights into ocean fronts and regional changes. Combining this data with the long-term CPR Survey data enhances our understanding of marine environments and the intricate relationships between plankton communities and our changing ocean.

08/01/2025

What a year 2024 was! Our marine monitoring survey reached 7.5 million nautical miles - the equivalent to 18 times to the moon and back!

Thanks again to our incredible team of volunteer ships, captains, crews and companies around the world, who tow our plankton recorders every month. Their unwavering support enables us to conduct world-class science to better understand our changing ocean.

Find out more about our work https://www.cprsurvey.org/

06/12/2024

CPR Survey Plankton Analyst, Martina, has travelled to Hilderod in Denmark this week to take part in the annual International Phytoplankton Intercomparison workshop.

This workshop is an important event for attendees from around the world to share knowledge and expertise on phytoplankton taxonomy and learn more about harmful algal events in other regions.

29/11/2024

A chilly but important trip for our Head of Operations, Lance Gregory this week!

Lance was visiting friends and supporters of the CPR Survey in Tromsø, Norway - the Captain and crew of the MV Norbjorn, Bring Logistics and M Supply. These groups work together, towing our CPRs between Tromso and Svalbard every month collecting important plankton samples which are then sent back to our lab at Marine Biological Association in Plymouth for analysis.

Lance last visited the Norbjorn 10 years ago to set her up for towing plankton recorders. Since then she has towed around 50,000 miles, generating a fantastic amount of data for marine scientists around the world.

15/11/2024

Lab with a view!
Plankton Analyst Jennifer was lucky enough to have a sea view from this microscope station in the CPR lab at the Marine Biological Association this week, while analysing plankton samples from the North Pacific. The view down the microscope wasn't bad either, with this pretty foraminifera!

06/11/2024

We're celebrating another amazing milestone, having recently clocked up a grand total of 7.5 million nautical miles - equivalent to 18 times to the moon and back!

Our unique monitoring programme provides unrivalled insights into the health of the marine environment, with data freely available to international scientists and policymakers around the world.

Thank you to everyone, past and present, who has played a part in achieving this milestone. As David Johns, Director of the CPR Survey says "With our rapidly changing planet, it’s essential to understand our marine environment – each additional mile we tow increases our knowledge and helps us manage our precious seas.”

05/11/2024

Last month, our photographer Chris Parkes captured these beautiful images of a CPR tow in action on board the Brittany Ferries vessel, the Armorique. We've been collecting plankton between Roscoff and Plymouth each month for several decades, this tow was our 472nd on this route!

Our ocean monitoring programme relies on the support of the international shipping community who tow our CPRs each month. The ship's crew carefully deploy, tow and haul our CPRs across the North Atlantic and North Pacific, before returning them to our lab here at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth for analysis.

Big thanks to Brittany Ferries for this special visit, and for their continued support in helping us monitor the health of the ocean.

25/10/2024

Alien species, like this copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus, are species that have been introduced by humans to new areas outside their native distributional range.

They have the potential to cause significant disruption to ecosystems, so monitoring their spread and impact is important.

This week, Plankton Analyst Marianne has been co-chairing the ICES working group EURO BUS following the progress of this copepod in Europe, including sharing CPR data on it.