Dear Diary,
A gigantic creature passed right over the zoo plankton colony, we all were freaked out, and Great Aunt McZoo yelled “Drift for your lives!”  We can’t exactly “swim” per say, the current is to strong so we just flow with it, and drift along.  Occasionally Great Aunt McZoo hallucinates and thinks she sees a whale, so no one believed her at first.  Great Auntie McZoo is going to be a whole year old next week, which is absolutely ancient!  My name is Catrina, and I’m a Copepod, and I’m one month old.   I’ve decided to start a diary because of how underappreciated plankton are in general.  Everyone always looks at the big powerful creatures, not the very important and smart microscopic creatures.  So, if someone, maybe a diver or scientist finds my journal one day, the world will recognize our job in the food chain, if they can read it.  Sure, I’m pretty much whale food, (that is sadly one of my life’s purposes) but, hey, if whales didn’t eat me, they would throw the whole system off.  I see my plankton friends and family as tiny heroes, because even if their fate is horribly inevitable, they look back at life with a microscopic smile.
Your microscopic writer- Catrina Copepod

Dear Diary,
I believe I am currently floating around in the Gulf of Mexico, and I really love the temperature here, I have to say it is way better than the middle of the Pacific in winter, it’s pretty chilly.  My best friend Patricia says that she thought she heard a whale in the distance, but I know she is just trying to scare me.  Patricia has pretty dark humor for a plankton.  We used to have a friend named Jim, but I think he drifted back in the group a little, but he’ll catch up, I hope…..  My mom told me that the plankton school break ends tomorrow, and she expects me back in the colony by the time the bioluminescent plants glow.  Curfews stink!
Your annoyed writer- Catrina

Dear Diary,
Miss. Anemone’s School for Gifted Plankton started back up today, and I met a few new students, there’s still no sign of Jim….. Selena Amoeba, she’s pretty tiny, but then again, most of us are single cell organisms.  Selena is pretty shy, and understandably, most of us are higher on the food chain. There was one new Mixotroph this year, his real name is Mike, but we all call him Mix now.  He’s a “mix” of phytoplankton (plant plankton) and zooplankton, (animal plankton), which is awesome!  Will Krill, he is a type of plankton, but everyone’s afraid of him, since usually Krill eat plankton on the food chain.  He assures all of us he’s a vegetarian, but I’m not so sure…..
I’ll write soon!- Catrina

Dear Diary,
Today I hung out with Will Krill (it turns out he likes phytoplankton, not zoo) and Mix, Patricia tagged along too.  We had soooo much fun drifting along and eating lunch together.  I had a hearty serving of phytoplankton in the school cafeteria, (located under the Central anemone).  It was delicious!  Though, Mix kind of gets mad at us whenever we eat phytoplankton, he says he feels like we are eating half of him.  Though, we don’t have that many choices for food considering we are one of the lowest animals on the food chain!  Plus, phytoplankton are just plants.  But I think I ate too much, ugh, write you later diary!
See you later!- Catrina

Dear Diary,
Today we took a field trip to the breeding center, the eggs were so adorable, and there must have been thousands!  Patricia frightened all of us when she put a piece of algae (which she pretended was an egg) in her hands/fins, and threw it off the trench we were on.  I didn’t think it was very humorous, but Mix and Patricia were cracking up, because it was just algae.  Patricia got a detention, but she says the prank was worth it.  After we drifted home on the school seaweed bus, I asked my mom why I didn’t have more siblings, those eggs were so cute!  Mom said that she really didn’t want to end up increasing the plankton population by thirty percent, because that’s a lot of kids.  Apparently, plankton moms don’t know how many kids they’re having, until they are born.  That’s pretty risky!  She said she got lucky with only three kids, and thank goodness she doesn’t have to look after a million little larvae.
Your exhausted writer- Catrina

Dear Diary,
Mom told me that she was thinking of going on a vacation to the whale museum, tomorrow since we were drifting up north with the colony, but that I could only pick one friend to go with us.  My thoughts immediately went to Patricia, who was fascinated by these stately, and fearsome yet sometimes mellow creatures.  However, I was still upset about the egg prank, so I avoided her.  I decided to go alone, all of my friends (besides Patricia) are afraid of whales, since they usually scoop us up in their cavernous mouths.  Today in school we learned about Greek roots.  Cope means oar, and pod means having one foot.  So I am an oar with one foot, haha it sounds so goofy, yet the descriptions matches my appearance.  In math we discussed species populations.  Did you know that Copepods may be the most abundant single species on Earth?  From what I heard in science class, the world is a very huge place.
Your conflicted author- Catrina

Dear Diary,
As Mom and I were packing a huge lunch of phytoplankton to bring with us to the museum, Patricia floated right next to me.  She looked quite upset.  Patricia told me that she was sorry about the prank, which I appreciated.  Patricia explained that she was always very jealous of my size, since she was the smallest type of plankton in the Genus, and that was why she had acted so rebellious.  I had never noticed her size much, her strikingly witty and confident personality had covered her height up.  Patricia was a Holoplankton, and I now saw where her fiery nature came from.  Holoplankton never have the possibility to grow more than one cell, where as other plankton could link together, like those paper chains baby humans make in preschool (or so I’ve read).  Not growing at all would frustrate me too.  After she apologized, Mom said she should come with us, I can’t wait!
Your ecstatic writer- Catrina

Dear Diary,
On our way to the museum, Mom treated us to diatoms, not like the cheap bland phytoplankton we usually eat.  Finally, we drifted on the route 35 current, and floated into the cavern/museum.  There were plankton of every kind; Nanoplankton, which were eating tons of bacteria, Cnidarians, Krill, Holoplankton, and Copepods!  Patricia dragged me over to the blue whale exhibit, and I must say, their size is just astounding!  Though, this fact made me shiver; a blue whale eats four tons of zooplankton each day. I looked at Orcas, and pictures of friendly looking Beluga Whales.  We made our way home around the time electric eels start waking up (they’re nocturnal).  I snacked away on the Diatoms we had left, but Mom made me save some for tomorrow.  I’m so excited to tell everyone at school about all the cool facts I learned today!
Your excited writer- Catrina

Dear Diary,
The school year is coming to a close, and Mr. Squidlie says that we are going to have a project due soon about our ancestors.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to track down any relatives, but I’ll try.  I chatted with Great Aunt McZoo today, and I interviewed her about life as a young plankton in her day.  Apparently, diatoms were free back then, and now we have to pay a whole sand dollar!  Aunt McZoo told me that, the world is a much safer place for me now than it was for her as a youth.  Many Krill were not Vegetarians, and always tried to eat Copepods, the Krill weren’t as evolved.  Today, some Krill choose phytoplankton as an alternative food source, since it’s easier to catch.  Originally, I thought it would be extremely boring to listen to her drone on and on about her history, but it was really intriguing!  Still no Jim…….
Your curious author- Catrina

Dear Diary,
We found Jim today!  He was drifting around the school looking for us.  Jim made up this farfetched story about how he got stuck in a Great Blue Whale, and made it out alive.  Patricia and I don’t believe that for a second.  Sure, we missed Jim, but the poor thing is pretty accident prone, once, he almost fell off the pebble we were climbing in gym class.  Knowing him, he probably floated along the wrong current and ended up in the nearby Jellyfish Academy, and found his way back.  Jellyfish are considered a form of zooplankton, which means small aquatic animal.  I think I might take a break from writing during the summer, because that’s when we have off from school, and the current changes.  So, I really have to pay attention to where I’m drifting to prevent getting lost (like Jim).  Oh, before I stop writing, guess what!  I grew two hundredths of a millimeter during the school year, and now I’m the second tallest in my grade (Will Krill is the first).  Bye Diary, I’ll miss you!
Signing off for the summer- Catrina Copepod