It’s May, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are through spring’s fickle weather, which often vacillates between blustery rain and calm sunshine, it feels like a hopeful and nurturing month. Maybe that’s due to the origins of its name. May is named for the Roman goddess Maia, the Earth goddess. She is also known as a nurturing goddess, which may also explain the tradition of celebrating the elders of a community during May. Think of it as a celebration of the seeds planted that are now bearing first flowers. But one of the most amazing examples of the spring bloom often goes unseen. This is the spring plankton bloom: the blossoming of the ocean which feeds everything else to follow.

While plankton might not be bright like the bursting forsythia or fragrant like the soon-to-come lilacs, they are perhaps the most beautiful and diverse set of living things on the planet. They can be round and spiky, long chains, glowing or transparent, and some are even toxic. But most people have never seen a single one.

One local organization is giving people that opportunity and also getting something in return. The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust is a community-based membership organization serving the towns of Arrowsic, Bath, Bowdoinham, Dresden, West Bath, Georgetown, Richmond, Westport Island and Woolwich. It has several community science programs, perhaps the best known being their spring alewife count (which is a lot of fun and worth checking out) but also including a plankton-monitoring program. As a part of the program, volunteers take a water sample and utilize microscopes to look at and categorize plankton types. These volunteers are a part of a program coordinated by the Maine Department of Marine Resources that has sampling stations throughout the state to monitor water quality. There is information on this program at maine.gov/dmr/fisheries/shellfish/bureau-of-public-health-programs/marine-biotoxin-monitoring. The KELT volunteer crew’s site is off Bay Point Road in Georgetown and meets weekly from May to October.

The purpose of DMR’s monitoring program is not just to learn about what’s happening in different locations but also what’s happening in the water from year to year and throughout the season. Plankton populations respond to a number of factors, including temperature, currents and nutrients. This can help to predict and measure productivity in the water. Monitoring can also be used to track any toxic plankton. These are plankton that have a chemical in them that can cause illness to whatever consumes it — including seafood we might eat. This is a critical component of the DMR’s program since it relates to human health.

There is an array of information — including images from previous sampling, videos showing how the sampling is done and identification sheets for the most common species — on KELT’s website at kennebecestuary.org/track-plankton. There is also information here about how to sign up to be a volunteer monitor. They are still looking for additional volunteers for this summer. For specific questions about the program, you can contact Ruth Indrick, project director, at rindrick@kennebecestuary.org.

Susan Olcott is the director of operations at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.