May 2019
THE AQUATIC FOOD WEB ISSUE
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CONTRIBUTORS INSTRUCTOR Sandra Isla
EDITOR Juanita Angel
DESIGNER/ILLUSTRATOR Juanita Angel
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CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Claire Fischer
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Pexels
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Erastus McCart
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Alex Dukhanov
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Bigelow Laboratory
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Guille Pozzi
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Matthew T Rader
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Booth Bay USA Stefan Siebert
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Josh Withers
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Karen Osborn
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Geoffrey Baumbach
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Pexels
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Joshua Rawson-Harris
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NOAA MESA Project
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NASA
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NASA
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Ibrahim Rifath
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Matthew T Rader
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Matthew T Rader
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Christian Sardet
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Marcello Rabozzi
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IUCN Red List
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Jeremy Bishop
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Jonathan Diemel
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Matthew T Rader
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Liam Briese
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Zhan Zhang
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Paco Joss
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Alessandra Caretto
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Cameron Venti
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Chuttersnap
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John Cobb
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Abhijeet Soman
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Lachlan Dempsey
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Gaddafi Rusli
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Cristian Palmer
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Jeremy Bishop
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Jeremy Bishop
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CONTENTS Phytoplankton
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The aquatic food web
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The high seas
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Coastal currents
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EDITOR’S NOTE Ocean currents are vital for the health of our oceans and for marine life.
Ocean currents make the water biologically productive. The combination of the deep ocean cool water and the abundant nutrients that breezes often blow from land to the sea promote the growth of plant life in the sea. From microscopic phytoplankton to dense kelp forests. Those plants become the center of a food web that includes highly productive fisheries, sizable populations of marine mammals and vast numbers of sea birds.
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PHYTOPLANKTON Words from: The Nature Documentary “Our Planet�
Phytoplankton are the microscopic floating plants of the high seas. What they lack in size can be made up in numbers. Plankton blooms can be so dense and vast they can be seen from space. There are so numerous that they create as much oxygen as all the worlds forest and grasslands combined. They also soak up vast quantities of carbon making them a crucial ally in our fight against climate change.
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Top: Jellyfish Hippopodius hippopus. Bottom: Planctoteuthis larvae, the larvae of cephalopods – the group that includes octopus and squid. Opposite: Pseudo-nitzschia are diatoms, a type of algae.
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In the high seas essential nutrients are scarce, and plankton tends to sink. Marine animals, winds, waves, currents and tides mix up the water flicking the plankton back into the sunlight, helping it to thrive. In a balanced ecosystem, phytoplankton provide food for a wide range of sea creatures including whales, shrimp, snails, and jellyfish. When too many nutrients are available, phytoplankton may grow out of control and form harmful algal blooms. These blooms can produce extremely toxic compounds that have harmful effects on fish, shellfish, mammals, birds, and even people.
Opposite: Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae. Top: Ocean surface, Phytoplankton needs the sunglight to grow.
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THE AQUATIC FOOD WEB Words by: Rebecca Lindsey and Michon Scott
Phytoplankton are the foundation of the aquatic food web, the primary producers, feeding everything from microscopic, animal-like zooplankton to multi-ton whales. Small fish and invertebrates also graze on the plant-like organisms, and then those smaller animals are eaten by bigger ones. These large marine mammals then recycle the nutrients to where they are most needed. For the plankton to thrive, it is the predators that need to be protected.
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Top: Thalassolampe margarodes. It looks like an exploding galaxy. The fluffy white material around it stores nutrients and controls buoyancy. Middle: Antartic Krill form schools that can be miles long and miles deep. Whales, sea birds, penguins, squid and seals all feed off kril. Bottom: Squid and small fish are the third level of the aquatic food web.
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Top: School of small fish are in the middle of the aquatic food web. Middle: Larger grey fish feed on smaller ones. Bottom: Toothed whales eat all other prey of the aquatic food web.
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THE HIGH SEAS Words from: Nature Documentary “Our Planet”
Once outside coastal waters there are no governments and no owners. The high seas are shared by all of us. With a lack of rules here we have collectively devastated much of the wildlife.
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The open oceans are the world’s largest ecosystems, vital to everyone, owned by no-one. Traversed by whales, sharks, turtles, tuna and albatross and home to mysterious deep-sea creatures, these are the true wilds of our planet.
Opposite: Dolphins swiming across the open ocean. Top: Open ocean surface.
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Turtles and sharks are some of the animals that traverse the open ocean.
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In order to protect the phytoplankton and the balance of the aquatic food web the big predators are the ones that need to be protected.
But the high seas are also the venue of perhaps our greatest conservation success – saving the whales. If we work together to protect and share the bounty of the high seas, we can ensure it thrives for future generations.
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The high seas cover half of our planet and are shared by all of us. But only 1% of the high seas are protected.
Seals belong to a second branch of the aquatic food web. Krill feed penguins and seals feed on them, but in the end seals are also food for toothed whales.
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COASTAL CURRENTS Words from: Nature Documentary “Our Planet�
Powerful oceanic currents sweep nutrients from the oceans depth, bringing them to shallow waters close to the coast. Ninety percent of life in the ocean is found in these shallow seas close to the coast. These currents make our coastal seas rich communities of plants and animals working together, all of which are vital to the health of our planet and humanity.
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Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries.
Coastal seas count for 7% of our ocean, yet they are responsible for 95% of the world’s marine production. Despite their importance to humanity, few coastal waters are protected. Yet wherever effective protection exists, life bounces back in huge abundance. The wildlife will thrive, and we will catch more fish. Scientist’s recommend we increase the ocean surface protection to 30% to ensure our seas regain their abundance.
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Top: Aerial view of the Bahamas from space. The terrain here is hilly. Middle: Sharks also like coastal waters and can often be seen around shorelines. Bottom: Coastal seas are responsible for much of the marine production.
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Top: Turtles live in different environments and breed on shores. Middle: These coral reef fish serve important roles in our ocean. Bottom: Many species like sea lions depend on the coastal ecosystem to survive.
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The rich coastal seas provide an abundance of food for wildlife and humanity. This super abundance is due to the fact that the sea floor here is within reach of sunlight.
Herbivore coral reef fish like surgeonfish and parrotfish keep seaweed-like algae from taking over coral reefs.
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The sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of being ruined, because of commercial fishing.
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