Last nights reading concerned different viruses that live in our oceans. These viruses infect and kill different bacterias in the ocean environment. These viruses also negatively affect the carbon production in the ocean. I found this article very informative and easy to read and follow. The different charts explained what was happening very thoroughly. In today’s class we talked primarily about the different water and ground levels in the ocean. Next we discussed what organisms would be living at each level. For example, the photic zone would contain large amounts of plant life because the suns rays would be about to reach the ocean floor at this certain level. We also learned about different types of plankton and their characteristics. The two major types of plankton we discussed were phytoplankton and zooplankton. The phytoplankton are “plant-like” in nature because they rely upon photosynthesis to obtain energy. The zooplankton are “animal-like” in nature because they rely upon the consumption of other organisms to obtain energy and nourishment. This first week of class has been very engaging and interesting. I look forward to next week.
