Transcript The Ocean Water and Its Creatures

The Ocean Water and
Its Creatures
Objective 5.0: Describe the layers of
the oceanic hydrosphere, including
the pelagic zone, benthic zone, and
intertidal zone.
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Marine Ecosystems: are ecosystems
based upon salty water

A. Cover ¾ of Earth’s surface & contain 97%
of Earth’s water supply

B. Three groups of marine life, that range from
the largest animals, live in the ocean & along
with billions of microscopic creatures.
1. Plankton
2. Nekton 3. Benthos
H.O.T.S.: Where do you think most marine animals
would be located—where is the water warm and
filled with light? Where would you want to live if
you lived in the ocean—where the water is cold,
dark, & filled with pressure OR where the
pressure is less, and the water is warm &
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sunny?
Marine life

1. Plankton: are organisms that float at
or near the ocean’s surface; there are 2
groups of these; comes from the Greek
word planktos, meaning “wandering”
a. Phytoplankton (plankton): microscopic
photosynthetic organisms that float at or near the
surface of the water; they use the sun’s energy to
make food just like plants do
b. Zooplankton: small, often microscopic,
organisms that eat phytoplankton
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Plankton
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
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Marine life continued

2. Nekton: the free-swimming organisms
such as dolphins, sharks, fish
FYI: Blue whale is the largest; 20 people could stand
on its tongue & people could crawl through their
arteries
H.O.T.S. : How big do you think a blue whale’s heart is?
3. Benthos: organisms that live on or in the ocean
floor.
a. They live in mud, sand, & rock.
b. Examples: crabs, sea stars (starfish),
worms, coral, sponges, seaweed, &
clams.
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Nekton
Whale shark
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Benthos
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C. Wide range of habitats in the
ocean
1. dark, cold, high-pressure
 2.
great depths to warm sandy
beaches
 3.
icy polar waters to rocky coastlines
 4.
oceans and seas occur all over
Earth & contain many ecosystems
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D. Abiotic factors that shape marine
ecosystems:
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1. temperature
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2. amount of sunlight
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3. distance from land
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4. depth of water (distance below the surface of the
water)
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5. sunny water: water absorbs light & can go down 200
m; this is where you find phytoplankton; they produce up
to 95% of all oxygen available in Earth’s atmosphere

H.O.T.S.: If all marine life were to die, how would you be
affected? How would others be affected?
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E. The Benthic Environment:
 1.
The ocean is divided into zones based
upon depth & where different types of
 benthos live.
 2.
The zones are grouped into one major
marine environment—the benthic
 environment.
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F. The Zones of the Benthic
Environment
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1. Intertidal zone: area where ocean meets land
a. it is located b/w the low-tide & high-tide limits, so it is above
water part of the day (when tide is out & often battered by waves
during this time)
b. mud flats, rocky shores, & sandy beaches are found here
c. animals & plants in the mud flats: periwinkle snails, herons, &
sea grasses
d. animals of the rocky shores: sea stars, sea anemones
e. animals of the sandy beaches: clams, crabs, conchs, snails
f. animals here either hold on with strong root-like systems or
have shells to protect them from the waves
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Intertidal Zone:
http://www.mbayaq.org/lc/activities/l
yrics_rocksong.asp?bhcp=1
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2. Sublittoral zone
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a. begins where the intertidal zone ends, at the low-tide
limit, & extends to the edge of the continental shelf
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b. temperature, water pressure, & sunlight remain
constant here so animals here do not have to deal with
the changes that the intertidal zone does
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c. extends 200m below sea level, below the surface
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d. most plants & animals such coral stay in the upper
100 m where sunlight reaches the ocean floor
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Sublittoral zone: coral reefs
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1. coral reefs:
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a. found in sunny, tropical areas
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b. live in close relationship w/single-celled algae
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c. forms from skeletons of corals over thousands of
years
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d. home to many species
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e. dying due to global warming
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f. slow growth rate (about the width of a dime in
height/yr)
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g. the tropical rain forests of the ocean because of
their diversity
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Coral reefs
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3. Bathyl zone
 a.
extends from the edge of the
continental shelf to the abyssal plain
 b.
depth: 200 m to 4,000 m below sea
level
 c.
no sunlight here so no plants
 d.
animals here: sponges, sea stars,
octopi, brachiopods, echinoids
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Bathyl zone
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4. Abyssal zone: from the Greek word meaning "no
bottom", and refers to the ancient belief that the open
ocean was bottomless

a. on the abyssal plain at a maximum depth of 6,000 m
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b. no plants & few animals here: crabs, sponges, tube worms, &
sea cucumbers
1. tube worms live around thermal vents, hot-water cracks in the
ocean floor that release heat & chemicals from inside the Earth
2. the water coming from these vents can be above 80°C
3. worms that live here are dubbed chemosynthetic because
they use the chemicals coming from the vents for their
food source

c. little is known about the abyssal zone because it is so deep &
dark
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Abyssal Zone Organisms
Upper left: Christmas tree worms; To left:
Sea cucumbers; Above top: anglerfish;
Above: tubeworms from hydrothermal
vents;
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5. Hadal zone
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a. The deepest benthic zone
b. made of the floor of ocean trenches & any
organisms there
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c. less known about it than abyssal zone
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d. organisms there: sponge, worms, clam
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Hadal Zone Organisms
Deep water squid, deep sea medusa, sea spider, sea pig, and sea
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basket. http://oceanlink.island.net/oinfo/deepsea/abysso.html
G. The Pelagic Environment
 1.
it is the entire volume of water in the
ocean & the marine organisms that live
 above the ocean floor

 2.
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2 major zones in the pelagic zone
a. Neritic zone
b. Oceanic zone
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3. Neritic Zone: the water that
covers the continental shelf
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a. less than 200 m deep & much sunlight here
 b. warm, clear, sunny, & shallow zone contains
the largest amt of marine life
 c. animals & plants here: seaweed, plankton,
sea turtles, coral reefs, sponges, fish,
dolphins
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1. brown seaweed is used for making
Japanese soup, kombu
2. red seaweed used for sushi
3. some seaweeds are also used for adding
taste & texture to ice cream
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Seaweed
Kombu, red seaweed, and seaweed used
in ice cream & toothpaste
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4. Oceanic Zone: the water that covers
the entire sea floor except the continental
shelf
 a. deeper parts have cold water & great
water pressure
 b. organisms are more spread out & many
eat dead things that fall
 c. many unusual animals found here have
adapted to pressure & darkness, & include
giant squids, whales, fish that glow,
anglerfish
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Oceanic Zone
small squid in the genus Abraliopsis
Chaenophryne longiceps
ctenophore Bathyctena
hydromedusa Aequorea victoria 26