A world in a drop of seawater

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.

-William Blake

We peer through our scopes at these little aliens, one species at a time (if we're lucky). But even when our finger bowls contain a host of different larvae, the world they inhabit is–by design–sterile, clear, and simple. Yet, a drop of seawater contains all our species and more, a world of diatoms, larvae, and bacteria, alive and wriggling with an animus all-too-difficult to capture in an image. Photographer David Littschwager captured this dynamic environment by magnifying a drop of water 25X, and the results are spectacular.

click here for the key 

image credit: David Littschwager, via thisiscolossal.com