Microbial Mat

Montana State University photo gallery

As part of an ongoing survey of marine life, scientists have focused on a census of micro-organisms, microbes that are “responsible for about 95% of respiration in the oceans.”

One of the highlights was the discovery of a vast "microbial mat," covering an area equivalent to the size of Greece.....

In the 1950s, scientists estimated that about 100,000 microbial cells inhabited in one litre of seawater. However, with the aid of modern technological advances, researchers now suggest that the figure is closer to one billion micro-organisms.

They have also calculated that the estimated total mass of marine microbes is equivalent to 240 billion African elephants.