Colorful fish swimming over just as colorful coral or hiding between the roots of mangrove forests. The coastal ecosystems have long fascinated humans. They are the part of the ocean most people stand a chance to interact with, to see, to explore. They are also among the most productive, biodiverse, and vulnerable ecosystems on this…
From humpback whales feeding on tiny life to crabs living on plastic islands, there is a lot of life on and near the ocean surface. Today, we’ll talk about the upper layer of the ocean: the Sunlight Zone, with all the life it has to offer. Chapter 1: Sunlight We’ve talked a lot about dark…
The ocean is huge. The open ocean is a pretty vast space with a whole lot of what feels like nothing. But there’s a lot more life there than you think–and, don’t worry, I’m not talking about plankton. 70% of Earth’s surface is open ocean. Pelagic ecosystems really are the most common ecosystems out there!…
Unreachable to most humans, the deepest depths of the ocean hold endless wonders from the totally adorable to really creepy, from the hot to the cold, from the dark to the—no, all dark. Unless you meet one of those creatures that can make their own light. Chapter 1: The deep-sea benthos The deep-sea benthos is…
To most people, the ocean is a more or less flat-surface, just like the ground beneath our feet. But there is so much more under the waves. From the surface to the deepest depths, from the shore to the open ocean, we’ll take it apart—and even get into some special zones. What to expect from…