From Prey to Predators

The Ocean is a miraculous place filled to the brim with foreign creatures and wondrous wildlife. From the Great Orcas of the Antarctic waters to the minuscule plankton, these marine life conquer the ocean's depths, but it's not just the creatures that reside here. Coral occupy their fair share of space upon the ocean's floor filling the waters with their glamour and residential charm for those in search of shelter.

Some plants and animals have to adapt to the amount of oxygen and visibility underwater. For example, plants have adapted to the amount of sunlight they receive in certain environments, and cattails and water lilies have adapted to be able to survive humid climates. For animals, certain fish like trout have adapted to clear and cool water with a large amount of oxygen. On the other hand, other types of fish, like catfish, are able to survive in an area with a low oxygen level and gloomy visibility. Since otters live on the land surrounding the water, they have adapted to be able to swim to catch their food. Frogs and alligators have adapted to their environment by being able to live on the land after coming from underwater as an egg. Lastly, beavers have adapted to use their teeth to create the dams they live

Kathy Conlan is an expert in understanding the weird and wonderful world of marine creatures that live deep under the Arctic ice. She specializes in marine benthic biology and amphipod systematics. Kathy studies how human and natural changes affect marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of pollution on marine life as well as global warming. She is past chief officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is a judge for SCAR’s Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and policy in Antarctica, represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students On Ice, mentors university students and gives speaches and “Show and tells” at the museum.

An entire new world, different from our own exists beneath the surface of our oceans. This life is full of color, shapes, sizes, wonder, and even darkness. Much of this life has yet to be explored but we still know that beneath the waves exist the most beautiful creatures and the most bizarre. Magical areas such as the coral reef and mysterious areas such as the depths of the ocean are homes to over 700,000 species that live in the ocean. This includes the eighty percent of the ocean that has yet to be explored. Even though there may be separate oceans on this planet, they are still interconnected by a body of salt water. No area of the ocean is the same, which brings us to the wonderful fact that so many different species are able to flourish

because it is made up of tiny teeth-like structures called placoid scales, also known as dermal denticles. These scales point towards the tail and help to reduce friction from surrounding water

In 1985 a fearsome predator was introduced to the northwest area of the Atlantic Ocean. This predator has spread rapidly for decades, destroying the habitats in which it invades. No one has been successful in keeping this predator under control. This invasion has been like no other for a marine species.

In this episode of the BBC documentary series, “The Blue Planet: Open Ocean,” we were able to explore the abundance and complications of the open ocean, the pelagic zone. Over 60% of our planet is covered by the ocean, yet the deep sea is largely still unknown. We know more about the moon than what we know about the deep ocean. The temperature and the level of sunlight decrease as the depth increases. The ocean may appear uniform from the surface, but there is several layers to the ocean. The pelagic zone contains the most area of the open ocean. The zone includes everything except for the coastal waters and the sea floor. However, even within this area, there are variation since some part is lifeless with very little amount of organisms and

The Sublittoral is the region of the ocean below the low tide limit and extends all the way to the edge of the continental shelf. This zone is submerged permanently despite the turn of the tides and the intra/interspecific competition for space is extreme. Organisms in this region rarely experience intense sun or air exposure and organisms such as blue

<b>Introduction</b><br>Think of a world which existed 290 million years ago. As you look out over the terane in front of you, you think that you are on an alien planet. You see volcanoes spewing ash and lava. Beside them is the ocean which is swarming with many different species of echinoderms, bryozoans and brachiopods. As you look down onto the sea floor you are amazed at the countless number of starfish and urchins. Some animals leave you can't even describe and you have no idea even what phylum they belong to. This is a world at its height in diversity of oceanic species. Millions of wonderous species existed at this time in the ocean and most of them will never appear again in earth's history. In the geologic time scale, a million

Imagine you are at the bottom of the ocean, and there are hydrothermal vents ejecting hot lava. Adding to your misery, there are huge amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas everywhere that are poisonous to your body. In reality, this is the giant tube worm’s ecosystem. Ecosystems are all of the living things (plants/animals) and the non-living things that live in a specific area and interact with each other. Ecosystems can be of any size. In an ecosystem, there are biotic and abiotic components that are all linked. The pelagic zone or “open ocean zone”, where the giant tube worm, an underwater animal that lives near hydrothermal vents, lives is located next to the continental slope/drop off. The water is much deeper here. At the surface, there is

In a time where the environment is experiencing significant change, it is important that certain communities and individuals be informed of what is occurring. This said environmental change can be observed in the way the seasons affect organisms and their habitat, which leads to an impact on their predator-prey relationships. This relationship between the California mountain lion, mule deer, and coyote that live at Wind Wolves preserve is being studied, along with their seasons. These animals can live in separate regions, but do have overlapping territories. Three of which being Twin Fawn, Site 1, and Site 2. Their environment can change how a predator hunts or how a often or long a prey appears at a certain location.

Imagine trying to kill an almost indestructible swarm of tiny, murderous robots. This is what Jack is faced with in the novel Prey by Michael Crichton.

In the bathypelagic zone the ocean is pitch black, meaning sunlight does not reach here. It is also known as the midnight zone. It lies between the mesopelagic and abyssopelagic zones. This zone is less densely populated than the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. Besides the occasional bioluminescent organisms, such as lantern fish, there is no living plant life. It is difficult for fish to live here. The fish that do live here have become very energy efficient, since it is hard to find nutrients. Many have slow metabolic rates to conserve energy. The fish here have weak muscles, soft skin and slimy bodies. Animals in this zone are not threatened by predators that can see them, so they do not have powerful muscles. Animals need to have the right adaptations to survive in this lethal area. There are no plants because of the lack of sunlight necessary for photosynthesis. Most animals that live here survive by consuming falling debris from the zones above. This is known as marine snow. The abyssal plain is covered with soft sludge composed of dead

Although his head was consumed with the words and image of Emily Harris, the Doctor remained cognisant that the woman on the sofa was Beth, and that she might find his actions and sudden keenness unusual. However, he didn't care. There was nothing wrong with displaying affection for your wife, or desiring her so much that you couldn't wait until the 'scheduled' time to make love to her. Should she not take it as a compliment, and it was Beth herself who'd was the cause of his throbbing erection, did that really matter? It was natural for those in long-term relationships to fantasise about other men or women, and that fact didn't need to be spoken about or revealed; as

Climate change is the increase in temperature of the Earth and its atmosphere. This has a huge effect on the world including Canadian ecosystem. Humans have added to this effect due to their irresponsible use of fossil fuels and polluting the environment increasing the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere. One of the results of climate change is ocean acidification, this occurs from the ocean absorbing the carbon from the atmosphere reacting with the water and forming carbonic acid. There are many different experiments done by multiple scientist exploring the effect that ocean acidification has on the environment and the species that live in it, specifically the predatory prey cycle. There was a study done by Elise A. Keppel et al.