The Ocean
Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Sea Anemones
Believe it or not, sea anemones are predators! Their sticky arms stun prey and they eat them. They are able to change shape drastically by putting in their long arms and retracting some of there body into there oblong body.
Coral
Coral typically lives in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps to form structures that we call coral. Coral is an important reef builder and creates a home for many different species. As the polyps grow they form a hard exoskeleton out of calcium carbonate. Some corals eat small fish and plankton the rest use photosynthesizes, which provides […]
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are jelly like animals or zooplankton. There bell or the top of their body pulsates slightly to propel them through the water. Their tentacles are armed with cells that sting to capture their food and deter predators. Some jellyfish use farming as there food source. They grow algae in there tentacles and the […]
Otters
There are two different types of otters, river and sea otters. They both eat fish and swim but they do have their differences. For example sea otters are two to three times bigger than your average river otter. Sea otters swim on there backs to crack open sea urchins and other mollusks (See […]
The Pacific Garbage Patch
The Pacific Garbage Patch is a spot of floating garbage in the Pacific Ocean. The flotsam is mainly from Asia’s countries garbage. The patch is known by high concentrations of plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris. The Pacific Garbage Patch was researched by NOAA or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The neustonic plastic was discovered […]
Estuaries, Where Rivers Meet the Sea
An estuary is where a mouth of a river will meet the sea creating an area that has brackish water. It holds host to lots of creatures and diverse life. They are known to provide lifesaving migration stops, safe breeding places and abundant food. They are one of the most prolific environments but they are […]
Coral Bleaching
Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae living in them making the coral to turn white. It’s called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching , but they are under even more stress and are subject […]
Mollusks
Mollusks are 23% of the names organism underwater. there the second largest phylum in the animal kingdom. They also live in fresh water and on land. they can come in 8 or 9 taxonomic classes and many different species. Nudibranchs (above) are gastropod mollusks that differ extremely where they live. They are carnivorous and some eat sponges […]
Marine Snow
Marine snow is composed of mainly falling detritus made of mostly organic things. exporting energy from the light-rich photic zone to the photo signifies the top layer is the aphotic zone which is below. as the layers progress down the chart to go all the way down to the hadopelagic zone at the bottom of the sea. Many animal deped […]
Salinity
Throughout Earth’s history, certain processes have served to make the ocean salty. The weathering of rocks delivers minerals, including salt, into the ocean. Evaporation of ocean water and formation of sea ice increase the salinity of the ocean. However these “salinity raising” factors are continually counterbalanced by processes that decrease salinity such as the […]
Sophia's Ocean life blog 