marine snow

noun

1. small particles of organic biogenic marine sediment, including the remains of organisms, faecal matter, and the shells of planktonic oganisms, that slowly drift down to the sea floor

Example Sentences

It was hunting for marine snow - “poo, basically” in the words of one researcher.

From BBC

Those particles - the marine snow - sink to the ocean floor.

From BBC

When they die, part of the plankton is transformed into particles known as 'marine snow'.

From Science Daily

Most deep-sea animals rely on food floating down from the ocean surface — “marine snow,” Litvin called it.

From Los Angeles Times

But with such a large number of octopuses living and dying in one area, he said, they provide the seafloor community “about 70% more carbon, more food than if only that marine snow was coming down.”

From Los Angeles Times