Survivors: Intertidal Zonation
An organism's preference for the habitat to which it is adapted creates a mosaic of similarly adapted organisms clumped in recognizable bands along the shore. This is a phenomenon known as intertidal zonation.
Treasure Trove: Technology and Over-Fishing
Recent advances in fishing technology have brought about major changes in the way fishes are removed from the ocean. Improved trawls, dredges and baits have greatly advanced the efficiency of the fishing process. Unfortunately, this increase in effi...
Treasure Trove: Kelp: Its Varied Uses
Kelp is the common term for a group of brown seaweeds that have significant economic value and are used in a number of ways. They can be found in a variety of products, from ice cream to salad dressings and from shaving cream to tooth paste. In some...
Dirty Water: Oceanic Clues About Climate Change
Many scientists believe they can better understand today's climate patterns by comparing them to those from the past. One way to do this is by examining ancient sediment samples.
Survivors: Predators and Prey
The ocean provides home to a dazzling variety of life. Yet there was a time when early life forms faced a multitude of struggles that threatened their ability to survive. The evolution of adaptations to overcome these challenges enabled life to endu...
Food for Thought: Primary Productivity and Climate
Phytoplankton play an important if indirect role in regulating the chemistry of the ocean and the atmosphere system. They do this through their contribution to the carbon cycle, taking carbon dioxide with them when they die and sink to the deep ocea...
Food for Thought: Global Patterns of Primary Productivity
Phytoplankton tend to concentrate in areas where the conditions for their growth and reproduction are optimal. Some of the most productive waters include the Antarctic and the North Atlantic during the springtime.
Food for Thought: Primary Productivity, Carbon Dioxide and the Role of Humans
Excessive amounts of nutrients applied to lawns, agricultural fields and farms can lead to what scientists call nuisance blooms of algae. When that matter decomposes and sinks into the deeper layers of the coastal ocean, it uses up the available oxy...
Survivors: The Oxygen Revolution
At one time, Earth's atmosphere had a far smaller percentage of oxygen than it does today. Only when that percentage began to rise, thanks to the oxygen production of photosynthetic plants and organisms, was it possible for animals to come into bein...
The Ocean as a Sound Channel
Renowned oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk talks about differences in the ways sound travels in the ocean as compared to through the air. He observes that the ocean is an ideal medium through which sound can travel.