Throughout history, the ocean has played an integral role in shaping the identity of Atlantic Canadians. It was the mainstay of the first people on this land, the natives; it brought the first Viking explorers, as well as later adventurers, to our shores; it lured the first Western European settlers here with its rich bounty of fish. Even today, the people of this region use the ocean as a source of transportation, recreation, employment, and food; not to mention as a source of inspiration for our songs, stories, poems, paintings and carvings. If you go to any fishing village along our coastline you will see, hear and taste the impact this rich resource has on our lives. No other force has shaped this region's culture and people as much as the ocean.Marine Ecology
Small plants and animals that can not move independent of ocean currents are called plankton. The plants, called phytoplankton, capture the sun’s rays and fix this energy into biomass. The small animals, called zooplankton, range from microscopic, single-celled organisms, to fish larvae, and all the way up to larger jellyfish. They may feed on phytoplankton, dead organic materials, other animals, or a combination of the three. Both phytoplankton and zooplankton form the basis of any marine food chains and food webs.
Researchers have known for a long time, that the health of plankton communities is often an indicator of the overall health of the marine ecosystem. Oceanographers study the quantity, type and movement of the various species of plankton in the water column, using many pieces of equipment. One piece of equipment, the Batfish, can be used to estimate the quantity of phytoplankton (using the fluorometer, marked F) and zooplankton (using the optical zooplankton counter, marked OPC). Plankton nets, can vary in both overall size and mesh size, depending on what type of plankton is being sampled. It is towed by the research vessel, and the plankton is collected in the bottle at the end of the net. Oceanographers can then determine the quantity, type and vertical distribution of the organisms collected. An interesting component of sampling with these nets is that the types of zooplankton collected depends on the time of day and the depth at which the sample was taken. Most of these small animal species migrate up and down the water column depending on the time of day. 
Oceanographers in Atlantic Canada are also participating in several international studies, one of which is the Global Ecosystems Dynamic Program. The Program examines how changes in the environment affect the productivity, quantity and distribution of populations of marine organisms. The research conducted by oceanographers in Atlantic Canada helps to create a clearer picture of the population dynamics of cod, haddock and two zooplankton species on the Georges Bank. Scientists can then create models to help predict the changes in location and numbers of these species as environmental conditions change.