This topic created here from part of a post in another topic so it can be discussed on its own - Administrator.

From Chuck Wilder:

Would you please give me some guidance on best ways for me to scoop up micros myself, at the shore? I collected a bucket of beach driftline at one spot near Kumjin Harbor, Kangweon Province, Korea, and gleaned all the micros I could from that, over a couple of weeks.

Matt also posted the same question on Conch-L. Here's some of the responses with meaningful content.

Fred Schueler of Bishops Mills Natural History Centre wrote:

"Our advice, from Webpage is: The most diverse drift is at the uppermost line of highest tide or flooding, or skimmed
off by filters of grass from the current or eddies. collecting is best
after the water level has fallen about 30 cm from the crest, but before
subsequent rain or trampling has disrupted the concentrations of
water-sorted shells. You want to gather these top handsfulls of
shell-rich drift, and you'll soon learn to recognize them by their
uniformly fine texture - whether you can see the shells of Molluscs in
the handsfulls or not. In ditches, streams, and rivers such
concentrations are often found after floods or spates above or below
bridges or culverts. They may be filtered out of passing water by
seive-like vegetation, or winnowed by the circular movement of
whirlpools or eddies. Sometimes very concentrated deposits are formed
under the overhanging lip of sod on the top of a bank. In lakes or
marine shores shells may be concentrated in gaps in shoreline
vegetation or where waves turn on themselves at the ends of docks, breakwaters, orlogs. On some marine or lake shores you'll also want to pick up the
sunken drift that accumulates just at the foot of the beach slope,
either underwater or revealed at low tides. The best concentrations
often occur a few tens of metres beyond where you've thought of giving
up because the drift, while voluminous, doesn't include any
concentrations of shells. Scoop the richest handsfulls into a plastic
bag, insert a tag bearing a unique identifier, and tie it closed."

Paul Monfils wrote:

"I like to use a white plastic 5-gallon pail, half filled with sea water. I take a clump of seaweed and thrash it about in the water as vigorously as possible. Then repeat with another handful of seaweed. After 10 to 20 clumps of seaweed, there are often a large number of tiny critters crawling about on the bottom of the pail."

In Florida, say at Mullet Key or Sanibel Island, it was easy to collect micros in the drift off of the white sand beaches.
You'll see what looks like a weak line of coffee grounds where the tide line has pushed the flotsam into a small line, and I'd usually scoop some of this up, or actually get down on my hands and knees and look closely at it, if I was looking for a particular species.

Reprinted from Conch-L with permission of Dr. Campbell:

A very inexpensive screen for micros can be made from an empty can and a nylon stocking. Wash and dry the sediment. Use a can opener to take both ends off the can. Single stocking legs in good condition can be obtained from people who have gotten a run in one leg of a pair of stockings (however, ask permission first). Use a big rubber band to hold the stocking onto one end of the can. This also works as a plankton net.

Once your sediment is dry, get a big bucket of water and pour a little dry sediment into the water. Micro snails will generally float, having air in them. Sand sinks. Pour the surface water and floating snails through your stocking screen.

If the sediment is fine enough to pass through the stocking, you could skip the drying step.

--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

Paul's suggestion of shaking algae vigorously is something I've taken to doing while snorkeling and scuba diving. But not just with algae, it works great with coral rubble too. I just catch the little fellas that drop out into a plastic tray that fits in my BC pocket. If I fear losing something special, I may just dump the entire contents into the collecting jar and sort later. Though usually this isn't necessary as seperating out the desired micros right away is often not too difficult. It's a fun way to collect.