Alaska Public Media: Theyre not recognizable like polar bears or whales. But phytoplankton are a key part of life in the Arctic and now, theyre at the center of a new research effort to predict how the region will respond to climate change.
Almost every animal in the Arctic eats - or eats something that consumes - phytoplankton. Theyre tiny specks of algae that usually blossom into big clouds out in the ocean in the springtime.
But thats not what Kevin Arrigo saw a few years back. He was in the Chukchi Sea...