Miles below the surface, white fluffy flakes reach their destination: the ocean floor. However, these flakes are few compared to the vast amount of marine snow in the ocean. Most of this “marine snow” is made up of decomposing organic matter (and, occasionally, man-made polluting products). Its name stems from its appearance; it looks a lot like actual snow, but water and rotting organic matter are two very different things. It takes a long time for one flake of this ‘snow’ to land on the ocean floor; usually, it will take weeks. Marine snow and its path downwards are actually an integral part of the marine food chain. First of all, bacteria feast on and decompose the flakes. In marine snow clumps, one will find a great range of microbes eating.