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Thanks to Plankton for its letter and Lion Fleischmann for his illustrations. Dear land creature, I think they call you human. I hope you are doing well. We know each other from the sea. We've met before. Every time you go swimming, actually. But I don't think you've noticed me. So I thought I'd introduce myself again. My name is Plankton. I'm both one of the smallest and largest creatures on earth. Most of the time you can only really recognise me under a microscope, because I'm so tiny that I'm often invisible to your eyes. But if you look at me as a large whole, I am one of the largest living organisms of all. Some of you, I think you call them researchers, even say that I am a "super-organism" or "mega-organism". After all, I am at home in all the world's oceans, yes, even in rivers and lakes, and believe me, that adds up to quite a bit of mass. The researchers dive down to me again and again and fill me into lots of small, transparent test tubes. In the laboratory, they then discovered that the animals that are most numerous in the world belong to my family. I am both an animal and a plant - and I have a real extended family. Even I get confused with all the complicated, long scientific names of my great-nephews and -nieces in the first to umpteenth degree. But let's keep it simple: my animal family is called "zooplankton". It includes countless small, diverse crustaceans called "krill". And it is precisely this krill that is the most abundant animal on our planet. And that's a good thing, because the largest animals on earth feed on these miniature crustaceans. But more on that later. My other relatives are plants and are also called "phytoplankton". Hardly anyone knows this, because I am often forgotten among the great climate heroes of the planet. But as phytoplankton, I am a huge CO2 hoover. I can absorb and store more of the harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the rainforests! And that's not all. I also photosynthesise and produce large quantities of oxygen. I can't really talk about breathing on land, because I live under water. But I've heard that you owe every second breath you take to the sea. In fact, your researchers think that around 50 to 70 per cent of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from organisms like me. I don't want to brag, I'm a modest character. But that's pretty cool, isn't it? OK, I admit it, I've got my black sheep in the family too. I didn't want to say it at first, but actually, the last Meer-Wissen episode in September was already partly about me. Because yes, jellyfish are also part of my family. So, now it's out. According to your scientists, the official definition of me is "The entirety of animal and plant life living in water that does not move itself but is moved by the water." I hope you haven't burnt yourself on my tentacles yet. And if you have - sorry, I swear it wasn't intentional. Most of my life I just let myself drift. The journey is the destination. I'm usually travelling by public transport. My means of transport are the ocean currents, and sometimes I surf the wind and waves to get to you. I love the islands as much as you do. They are one of my many homes. I particularly like Ibiza and Formentera because they are surrounded by several sea currents. It's probably what you would call "breezy" or "windy" on land, which I particularly like here in the neighbourhood. But I also like being near you, not far from the coasts, where it's so relaxed and quiet. And I love parties: in spring and autumn, when new nutrients arrive due to the change in currents and temperatures, I literally blossom. Officially, this is also known as the "plankton bloom". Then there is a big fiesta, a real mega-event, and all the sea creatures are invited. Some of these parties are so huge in the big oceans that you can even see them from space! NASA has already taken many cool party snapshot of me. Sometimes I appear spiral-shaped from above when I'm swirled around by ocean currents. Or I shine with my DIY party ambience. Thanks to the phenomenon that your researchers call "bioluminescence", I sometimes shine like the stars - even around Ibiza and Formentera. But I don't just look cool from space. Have you ever seen me under a microscope? I appear in the craziest shapes and colours! And you haven't discovered all of my looks yet. You're only at the very beginning, we're just getting to know each other. There are countless different types of me. Microorganisms like me still hide many so-called "dark taxa". These are creatures that have not yet been discovered by you, "white spots", so to speak, in the diversity of animal and plant species. By the way: scientists assume that only 10 to 20 per cent of all species worldwide have been identified anyway. That's pretty low, isn't it? But you have already researched one of my most important characteristics as a phytoplankton. What's the best way to say this without sounding conceited? I'll try this: I am the origin of marine life, where it all begins. Oh, that sounds important. Well, to put it more modestly: I am the lowest link in the food chain, and therefore the food source for all marine life. OK, I admit it, whichever way you look at it: I AM pretty important. Not to say vital. When I throw my wild spring and autumn parties off Ibiza and Formentera, it's a real charity bazaar and everyone is welcome. The first guests are the small zooplankton animals that feed on phytoplankton, including tiny crustaceans, fish larvae and jellyfish. Then the smaller fish arrive to feed on the zooplankton. And after them the predatory fish that feed on smaller fish - such as groupers, moray eels and barracudas. At the top of the food chain are the top predators, such as whales, dolphins and sharks, which have become extremely rare in the Mediterranean. Incidentally, whales and I are an unbeatable team. With us, the largest and smallest creatures in the sea, the circle closes, so to speak. Many large whales such as the fin whales, which follow me from the Atlantic to the so-called "whale channel" between the mainland and the islands, are plankton eaters. But I'm not angry with them because by eating me, the whales also ensure that my next generation flourishes. The whales "fertilise" the oceans with their faeces because it is rich in nutrients such as iron, which I in turn need for my growth as phytoplankton. So we mutually benefit from our existence. A win-win situation. So, dear land creature, now we've got to know each other a little better. Maybe we'll meet again soon when you go swimming. Just drop by, I'm actually always at home. At night, you can sometimes even switch on my light when you're swimming. With a bit of luck, my glittering relatives also hang around off the islands as luminous plankton. One more thing. Perhaps you can already guess. Because I give you at least every second breath, because I am the food source for all sea creatures and store more CO2 than the rainforests, I am also called the "Most Important Organism" by scientists. So, I don't want to brag, but I save the planet every day. What are you doing for it? Maybe we can join forces...? See you soon, in the sea. I'll be there. Your Plankton. This article was published in the October 2023 issue of the monthly magazine Ibiza Live Report.