and there are the effects of storms tides and occasional hurricanes however the result of ocean fertilization is almost certainly that phytoplankton will grow and the rest will follow ocean fertilization is effective only in the upper level of the ocean and preferably in the top about 100 feet about 30 meters of the ocean therefore the preferred method of ocean fertilization will be to produce a fertilizer pellet that floats with a density less than seawater and preferably about 0 9 times that of seawater this can be accomplished by using low density materials in the formulation like waxes by latching the fertilizer to a float material such as glass or ceramic bubbles and plastic foam or preferably by including gas bubbles in the form of ceramic balloons or gas bubbles in a plastic matrix in the fertilizer pellet where the mixing layer is shallow it may be possible to disperse soluble fertilizers such as phosphoric acid directly into the wake of the boat and still keep the fertilizer in the photic zone the fertilizer will preferably be in a form that will dissolve in the surface water over a period of several days or perhaps as long as two weeks therefore a preferred method of ocean fertilization will include the mixture of the fertilizer with a binder such as a high molecular weight starch a wax or a plastic matrix such as cellulose acetate so as to produce a fertilizer pellet that releases the fertilizing elements slowly in ocean water this.