Class today: full of micro information, however I don’t mean insignificant; I mean a topic on the smallest forms of life in the ocean: viruses and plankton. We learned about how viruses infect plankton and turn them into dissolved organic matter. Little bacteria eat this matter and are then eaten by plankton, which are in turn eaten by smaller fish, and thus the beginning of the marine food chain! We also lurked about the different layers of the ocean, including the benthic zones and the pelagic zones. The benthic zones consist of the land dwelling creatures such as crabs and lobsters. The pelagic zones rare all other underwater dwelling creatures, mainly comprised of fish. 90% of marine life live in the Neurotic Province which is a horizontal province in the pelagic zone. We also learned how some creatures live in a zone shallow enough for sunlight to pass through, but others, such as whales and tuna, live in a zone where no sunlight gets through. There certain areas in the ocean where blue passes through the water further then all other colors, which gives the ocean its bluish tint. Week one of marine biology is over and I feel like I am already a marine biologist. Next week my partner, Hector, and I will be presenting an article on how climate and temperature changes effect coral reefs. It has been an exciting week, but I am also looking forward to a break. Until Monday…
