Significance The role of viruses in shaping microbial communities in the marine photic zone has been studied extensively in recent years. However, temporal patterns of abundance and activity of highly abundant viral groups and its relation to host abundance are still mostly unconstrained. By tracking changes in rank abundance patterns, we report evidence for seasonal succession in key viral groups alongside a persistence and low transcriptional activity of a large bank population. In addition, we show that high virion abundance does not necessarily translate to high host infection levels, suggesting the coexistence of a diverse repertoire of diel activity and life history traits, even within viral taxonomic groups. Our results highlight the diversity of viral life strategies in the ocean.