Transcript Introduction to Marine Biology

Introduction to Marine Biology
The Science of Marine
Biology
a. Marine biology is the science of
biology applied to the sea.
b. All the disciplines of biology are represented in
Marine Science
• Chemical Biology
• Zoology  the study
of animals
• Behavioral Biology
c. The history of Marine
• Archeologists have found
piles of shell, the remains of
ancient “clambakes” dating
back to the Stone Age.
• Fish hooks have been found
made of bone
• Tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh bears a warning not
to eat a puffer, a kind of poisonous fish.
• Aristotle (Greek philosopher) was
considered to be the first marine biologist.
– Described many forms of marine life
– Recognized that gills are the breathing
apparatus of fish
• Knowledge of the ocean and its organisms
developed as people gained skills in seamanship and
navigation
– 1768  James Cooked explored all the oceans
of the world in three great voyages
• First navigator to use a chronometer (instrument
allows one to determine their position and to create
accurate charts)
• First to include full-time naturalist on board
Charles Darwin
• The most famous
shipboard naturalist
• 1831  sailed around
the world on the HMS
Beagle
Charlie Darwin (cont’d)
• Proposed a theory for
the formation of
ATOLLS (distinctive
rings of coral reef)
• Was able to collect
“plankton”
– Tiny floating/drifting
animals
SONAR
• SOund NAvigation Ranging
– Developed during WWII
– Based on the detection of underwater echoes
SONAR (cont’d)