Life in the Ocean
- 71% of Earth's surface is covered by the ocean.
- The ocean is 90% the volume of the biosphere.
- Life first started in the ocean nearly 4 billion years ago.
- Runoff from the lakes and streams allow oceans the nutrients it needs to supply organisms with the environment.
- Upwelling from the cold deep ocean provide nutrients to the coastal habitat.
- We have only explored 10% of the ocean and only 1% of the ocean floor.
- Scientists predict that there are more than one million species in the ocean that have yet to be discovered; there are only 250,000 species that have been named that live in the ocean.
- Seawater is 800 times more dense than air; which accounts for the differing plant life on land and in the sea.
- Another difference between land and marine organisms is the bine structure; where land animals need bone structure to counteract gravity, marine mammals have water to eliminate the need of bone structure.
- The ocean does not harbor much plant life due to the lack of nutrients that is distributed and dissolved in the sea.
- The world's largest fisheries occur largely near coasts where the wind warms the water and the cold water rises to replace it, which allows a nutrient rich area.
- Mid-ocean has the most depleted Oxygen.
- Organisms that live in the deep ocean is peculiar due to their adaptation to live in a place with such a high pressure.
- Some have adapted to be 40 meters long et only as wide as a thumb.
- Others are able to glow in the dark; often used to draw in prey, recognition of species, or to startle predators.
- The top marine carnivores such as sea lion, tuna, whales, dolphins, and seals travel where light is still visible; often they travel to feed, creating the longest migration on earth.
- Whales undergo fluctuations in body fat due to how they feed in colder places, and breed in warmer places hence not getting food.
- Coral reefs are in need of protection, it creates a habitat for smaller fishes.
Author's Main Points:
The ocean is large and covers approximately 71% of the surface of the Earth; the place where the first organisms emerged. It consists of many unknown species, due to its' depth and enormous size. The differing levels of the ocean contains a variety of organisms that vary in structures and behavior. The ocean most likely harbors more species than the land, yet the researchers cannot access it due to the migrating tendencies of all species, further more the depth in which differing species are submerged in also hinder the studies the scientists are doing. In contrast to the structure of land organisms, marine animals don't require bone structures due to the properties of water; these organisms do not have to deal with the gravity on land. Most likely another reason as to why the diversity of marine mammals out reaches that of the wild animals on land. Surprisingly the ocean does not contain much plant life due to the lack of nutrients. Many of the plant life in the ocean are located in shallow waters where the runoff from the streams reach, hence the nutrients does as well. Upwelling helps also with the distribution of nutrients in the coasts; this occurs when the surface f the water is warmed and the cold water emerges as the warm water sinks; this is due to differing densities of water at differing temperatures. Many of our life on earth resides in the ocean, yet we are clueless as to how much that life really inhabit the oceans.
My Opinion:
Marine life is often ignored because they are not always seen by the people; we forget that those very organisms are detrimental to out ecosystems. The various species that reside in the ocean is hard to imagine due to its immensity. The author provides the different levels of the oceans such as the intertidal zone, the deep ocean, and the coral reefs, all of which consists of different species that flourish in those specific regions. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the author clearly states how much land and marine animals differ, I find that they have some things in common. The fact that different animals and plants can only grow and thrive in specific regions that they are adopted to can reflect the different species of marine organisms at different parts of the world, as well as the depth in which they occupy. However it seems that the diversity of marine life is still unknown to us due to their elusiveness. It is intriguing how deep ocean animals develop characteristics that are almost alien-like; where they can glow and even develop in extreme proportions. The life in the ocean truly defines the wonders of the Earth, and the beauty of its' inhabitants.
The ocean is large and covers approximately 71% of the surface of the Earth; the place where the first organisms emerged. It consists of many unknown species, due to its' depth and enormous size. The differing levels of the ocean contains a variety of organisms that vary in structures and behavior. The ocean most likely harbors more species than the land, yet the researchers cannot access it due to the migrating tendencies of all species, further more the depth in which differing species are submerged in also hinder the studies the scientists are doing. In contrast to the structure of land organisms, marine animals don't require bone structures due to the properties of water; these organisms do not have to deal with the gravity on land. Most likely another reason as to why the diversity of marine mammals out reaches that of the wild animals on land. Surprisingly the ocean does not contain much plant life due to the lack of nutrients. Many of the plant life in the ocean are located in shallow waters where the runoff from the streams reach, hence the nutrients does as well. Upwelling helps also with the distribution of nutrients in the coasts; this occurs when the surface f the water is warmed and the cold water emerges as the warm water sinks; this is due to differing densities of water at differing temperatures. Many of our life on earth resides in the ocean, yet we are clueless as to how much that life really inhabit the oceans.
My Opinion:
Marine life is often ignored because they are not always seen by the people; we forget that those very organisms are detrimental to out ecosystems. The various species that reside in the ocean is hard to imagine due to its immensity. The author provides the different levels of the oceans such as the intertidal zone, the deep ocean, and the coral reefs, all of which consists of different species that flourish in those specific regions. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the author clearly states how much land and marine animals differ, I find that they have some things in common. The fact that different animals and plants can only grow and thrive in specific regions that they are adopted to can reflect the different species of marine organisms at different parts of the world, as well as the depth in which they occupy. However it seems that the diversity of marine life is still unknown to us due to their elusiveness. It is intriguing how deep ocean animals develop characteristics that are almost alien-like; where they can glow and even develop in extreme proportions. The life in the ocean truly defines the wonders of the Earth, and the beauty of its' inhabitants.