Zooplankton, the animal form of plankton, includes protozoa, small crustaceans, jellyfish and worms. Protozoa are single celled organisms that can colonize; they can live in oceans, salt lakes, freshwater lakes, rivers and ponds and vary in size for two to seventy micrometers and even larger. Crustaceans are invertebrates that live in water as well as on land and can vary from microscopic to sixty centimeters. Zooplanktons main sustenance are bacteria and phytoplankton, making them the second link in the food chain (Vegas).
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In order for the zooplankton to have easy access to their food source, they need to be located near the phytoplankton. Because phytoplankton needs to have access to sunlight to photosynthesize, they must be near the surface of the water. Zoplankton also need iron in their diet. So, that is also where zooplankton can be found; the top 100 meters of the water to be exact. Just like phytoplankton, zooplankton can't swim; instead they just float along with the currents, tides and and winds. The difference between the movement of phytoplankton and zooplankton is that zooplankton can often weight too much to just float along, like the phytoplankton, so they use spikes for weight distribution (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia).
Research has been done that could prove plankton itself is a good food source for humans. This idea can be credited to a Norwegian scientist and writer, Thor Hayerdahl, who traveled from Peru to Polynesia on a raft. During his trip he found that zooplankton made (see the bottom of this page) "good eating." Further research has been done to prove plankton is a good source of protein and carbohydrates. (Vegas). Because it is plentiful, easy to harvest and cheap, it is a good possibility for the future.
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