Silicoflagellates are the least prevalent species of phytoplankton. They are most prevalent where diatoms live, but they are a different kind of phytoplankton. Their skeleton is made up of long tubular rod-shaped elements, and they can propel themselves through the water with a eucaryotic flagellum, which is a whiplike extension of certain cells or unicellular organisms that functions as an organ of locomotion. Waters high in phytoplankton provide essential food for krill and other small marine animals. These, in turn, are eaten by larger animals such as fish, penguins, whales and seals.
Phytoplankton are the very start of the food chain.
Ice Algae Sea ice algae is an Antarctic algae that grows attached to ice crystals. It live on the underside and in the middle of pack ice throughout autumn, winter and spring. In the spring, this algae forms into dense mats as a result of the increasing light levels. The mats are released into the Southern Ocean as the pack ice breaks up during the summer thaw. As icebreakers break through the pack ice, the broken chunks of ice are overturned exposing the brownish layers of sea ice algae.