Today we decided to went on a Easter Egg Hunt - and since it is raining heavily today we took this journey to another realm: the microcosm!
In our SPOTTERON Citizen Science Design Studio we have various water samples, collected in the Nationalpark Lobau / Donauauen in the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. Those micro aquariums are mini ecosystems, some overgrown by algae others in a beautiful balance. In two of them, there are populations of various species of Ostracods - tiny crustaceans which have been living since generations in our office. And since earlier this week we received our new digital microscope, we decided to give it a try.
Watch what we found! A beautiful Ostacod from the species Cypridopsis vidua resembling an hand-painted egg by shape and color. It was a jaw-opening moment, we have never seen these so magnified and didn't even know how they look like up close. Definatly the best easter finding ever. Now there just should be an app to sumbit the observation to the CitSci Community. If there are Citizen Science projects out there about microscopic life like unicelluar organisms, crustaceans and other small lifeforms from ponds, fountains or streams, please do not hestiate to get in contact.
Enjoy and be sure to watch the video in full screen!
(true to the principle of we do not track users in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science apps, this video has been embedded with the enhanced privacy mode)