Light Measurements in West Florida Shelf Waters

by Ja Seng Nan

Submitted : Spring 2014

Light plays an essential role in the survival of the heterotrophic marine bacterioplankton at various depths of water levels. The rate of light attenuation (decline in available light) for each wavelength of different light color is estimated. In this project, the light attenuation is calculated for three different wavelengths (0m, 5m, and 20m). Although it was previously thought that heterotrophic marine bacterioplankton relied on the organic carbon in seawater for energy needs, recent discoveries had suggested that pelagic bacteria could depart from a heterotrophic surrounding by obtaining energy through unconventional mechanisms that are linked to the penetration of sunlight into surface waters. 

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