Welp… got that giddy, kid-like feeling again after stumbling upon these photos!

How cool are these?! (Click to embiggen)

Credit: NOAA

These are pictures of different types of plankton. Some are plants, some are animals, and some are another classifications of life altogether.

I love discovering new things. They make me happy. I get to play with them. Discover them. Then they turn into “mine.” Not unlike how a child plays with a new toy. I see these beautiful pictures of these plankton and have that same feeling. I want to print pictures off and examine them. I want to read all I can about the different species, compare the different shapes, find new ‘models.’ Just like matchbox cars, or baseball cards. I want to collect them all!

Look at that weird shaped one there! Why is it like that? Is this one faster than that one over there? Does that one eat that other one? What are their names? What attributes do each of them have? Like tech trees and skill points in video games. Only, these are real! They’re all around us! The world is my toy box.

Credit: NOAA

Credit: NOAA

Click here to see the original NOAA photo gallery.