open_ocean

Geography
The open-ocean zone, part of the marine biome, is located all over the world. Wherever there is an ocean, there is an open-ocean zone. Especially in the large Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, there is a great deal of space where the open-ocean zones exist. The open-ocean zones stretch from where the neritic zones, end to anywhere that there is a deep-sea zone.

The deep-sea zones are scarce and small, and in addition to the intertidal zones and neritic zones, which only exist along the coastlines, an enormous amount of space is left for the open-ocean, which is by far the largest of all marine biome zones.

Weather Cycles
The weather in the open-ocean zone of the marine biome varies a very small amount. Although anything can happen above the water, nothing changes underwater except the single variable of temperature. The temperature of the ocean, though, changes over long periods of time rather than daily. It takes months for the temperature to rise or fall by only a few degrees. Some effects of the temperature change because occurrences such as El Niño and La Niña, which impact not only marine related areas, but land areas as well all over the world.

Survey of Organisms
Protista: Red Algee - scientifically known as Rhodophyta, red algae is the largest and most complex of the Protoctists.
Brown Algee - scientifically known as Prymnesium parvum, brown algae is a haptophyte that can only be seen using a microscope with a size of approximately 10 micrometers

Monera: Prochlorothrix hollandica - named after its form and place of discover, in the Loosdrecht Lakes of the Netherlands.
Nitrobacter winogradskyi - Named for Sergius Winogradsky, who was a pioneer in in the field of microbial ecology.
Fungi: (None in biome)

Classification of Ocean Animals

Name of Animal Discription

Killer Whale

scientifically known as Orcinus orca, the killer whale is the largest in the dolphin family. Killer whales are located worldwide, especially in the cooler seas.

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

scientifically known as Eretmochelys imbicata, the hawskbill sea turtle is endangered because of the large desire for it's beautiful, serried shell. The hawksbill turtle lives around coral reefs and other rocky areas, generally close to shore. These sea turtles lay about 150 eggs at a time, more than any other turtle.

Walrus

scientifically known as Odobenus rosmarus, the walrus feeds mainly on molluscs. The walrus is located in northern oceans, mainly on rocky islands in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, a few miles off the shores of Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia. Only one walrus is born in each general area every two years because of the long period of pregnancy.

Sponge

scientifically known as Axinella polypoides, the sponge is one of the simplest multicellular animals, and can play the male or female role in reproduction. Sponges are very porous animals that attach themselves to rocks and other solid objects in the ocean where there is a sufficient food supply.

Sea Star

scientifically known as Asterias rubens, the sea star has very spiny skin. Some of the bumps are to absorb oxygen, others are for cleaning itself, and others are just to keep other organisms, such as barnacles, from landing on the sea star's surface. The sea star has suckers on the ends of it's feet that help it hold prey and hold onto rocks in a strong current. It also has tiny tube feet underneath it's arms to help it move.

Umbrella Jellyfish

scientifically known as Eutonina indicans, the umbrella jellyfish is transparent, making almost invisible in the ocean. This provides a good source of self-protection, because most predators cannot see it. These jellyfish are located in cooler, northern oceans.

Food web:

Adaptation
One example of the adaptation of an ocean animal is the hawksbill sea turtle. This turtle has a tapering head. This adaptation is for finding food to eat.
click and hold down you mouse button to spin the picture! watch it whirl around!

Another example of an adaptation of an ocean animal is the walrus. The walrus has adapted webbed feet. The webbed feet enable the walrus to move swiftly on land and on water.

Environmental Issues
Around Alaska, oil spills are a main concern. When large ships have accidents resulting in an oil spill, animals, land, and water are all affected. Animals are covered in the thick substance that can weigh them down, drowning them. The oil can also seep into animals' skin or may be ingested, poisoning them. The oil effects the land that is near the spill, making erosion difficult and seeps up into the land, creating problems with nutrients and other important aspects of the beach or land.This is a picture of what water looks like after an oil spill. Notice the black color of the water and the foam in certain areas.

Pollution affects all the living things in the ocean. All the trash that accumulates can harm to the animals and other organisms. The pollution can get into their food, physically hurting them if a sharp object is carelessly tossed into the water or an animal gets caught in something.

Symbiosis
Many examples of symbiosis occur in the ocean. One example occurs between clownfish and sea anemone. The poisonous tentacles of the anemone provide protection for the clownfish from predators. The fish swim and basically live within the area between the anemone's tentacles. When predators try to attack the clownfish, the clownfish retreat back to the safety of the sea anemone's poisonous tentacles. In return for protection, the clownfish provide the sea anemone with small bits of food from their own meals. In this way, the clownfish and the sea anemone use each other to survive, presenting a perfect example of symbiosis.

Webliography

Miller, Kenneth R. and Joseph Levine. Biology. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1993. pg. 1018

"Killer Whale." Ocean Animals. http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/ianimals/killer.htm

"Sponges." Ocean Animals.
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/animals/sponge.htm

"Echinoderms." Ocean Animals.
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/animals/echinod.htm

"Hawksbill Sea Turtle." Ocean Animals.
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/animals/hawks.htm

"Starfish." Goliers Multimedia Encyclopedia [CD-ROM]. 1995 ed..

Hardy, Sir Alister. The Open Sea: Its Natural History. Houghton Mifflin Company: Great Britain, 1965. pg. 210

"Physical Features I." Animal Adaptations.
http://cid.unomaha.edu/~wwwsped/jrnl72/fen/adp/3/info.html#q1

"Walrus." Ocean Animals.
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/animals/walrus.htm

"Jellyfish Species List." Jellyfish.
http://www.aqua.org/animals/species/jellies/species.html

Underwater World (Time Life series). Time Life Inc.: Alexandria, Virginia, 1992.

http://www.educationalimages.com/im040006.htm

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Name of Animal	Discription
Killer Whale	scientifically known as Orcinus orca, the killer whale is the largest in the dolphin family. Killer whales are located worldwide, especially in the cooler seas.
Hawksbill Sea Turtle	scientifically known as Eretmochelys imbicata, the hawskbill sea turtle is endangered because of the large desire for it's beautiful, serried shell. The hawksbill turtle lives around coral reefs and other rocky areas, generally close to shore. These sea turtles lay about 150 eggs at a time, more than any other turtle.
Walrus	scientifically known as Odobenus rosmarus, the walrus feeds mainly on molluscs. The walrus is located in northern oceans, mainly on rocky islands in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, a few miles off the shores of Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia. Only one walrus is born in each general area every two years because of the long period of pregnancy.
Sponge	scientifically known as Axinella polypoides, the sponge is one of the simplest multicellular animals, and can play the male or female role in reproduction. Sponges are very porous animals that attach themselves to rocks and other solid objects in the ocean where there is a sufficient food supply.
Sea Star	scientifically known as Asterias rubens, the sea star has very spiny skin. Some of the bumps are to absorb oxygen, others are for cleaning itself, and others are just to keep other organisms, such as barnacles, from landing on the sea star's surface. The sea star has suckers on the ends of it's feet that help it hold prey and hold onto rocks in a strong current. It also has tiny tube feet underneath it's arms to help it move.
Umbrella Jellyfish	scientifically known as Eutonina indicans, the umbrella jellyfish is transparent, making almost invisible in the ocean. This provides a good source of self-protection, because most predators cannot see it. These jellyfish are located in cooler, northern oceans.