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How to Take a Plankton Sample
To take a plankton sample, you throw your net out across the water, let it sink just below the water, then use your rope to pull it slowly back in. Plankton and other small organisms collect in the straining bag; you then invert the bag into a container filled with water, releasing the plankton and other organisms into the container.
1. Coil your rope into a few loose coils.
2. Hold the plankton net in one hand, and the looped end of the rope and your coils of rope in the other.
3. Toss the net and rope coils out across the water so that the coils of rope uncoil smoothly (this may take some practice throws). Keep a good grip on the end of the rope!
4. Wait a few seconds to let the net sink just below the surface, then gently pull the net towards you.
5. Before you pull the net up out of the water, hold it vertically in the water, then shake it gently as you pull it up out of the water, to shake the plankton down to the bottom of the bag. |  | | | 6. Lift the net out of the water, then invert it over a water-filled container. Dip the bottom of the bag into the water in the container so that the plankton float off into the water, as shown in the photo. |  |
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