Sea Creatures Categorized as Zooplankton, Nekton, and Benthos

A Review of “The Devil and Deep Blue Sea” by Linda Pannozzo Introduction In her book The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: An Investigation into the Scapegoating of Canada’s Grey Seal, Linda Pannozzo accomplishes few important things: she makes a compelling argument for the senseless killing of grey seal; she provides an analytic framework for the reasons of the decline of cod fish; and she provides a wealth of information on the politic behind scapegoating of Canada’s grey seal. Pannozzo presents The Devil and Deep Blue Sea in a clear and unbiased matter, but its presentation is by no mean elementary. Pannozzo’s book is meticulously researched, thus providing us with both quantitative and statistical account surrounding seal ways of life, their diet, history and other necessary aspects of marine life ecosystem. Book Summary

The leopard seal is one of six species of seals in the Antarctic. They can get up to 1230 pounds and fall anywhere between eight and twelve feet long. These large muscular animals have dark grey backs, and spots scattered among their light grey stomachs and throat. They get their name, “leopard seal”, from their impressively long sharp carnivore like teeth. Although their front teeth are sharp, their back teeth lock together to help them catch krill. Their appetite mainly consists of penguins, fish, squid, and krill, though they will prey on other seals. Although the leopard seal is considered the most ferocious seal in Antarctica, they will play with the penguins in a friendly manner. When they are not playing with the penguin they will grab

The cephalopodor octopus is a marine organism that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean. Its food source consists of crabs, small fish, clams, mussels and other marine animals. The octopus is a predatory animal and has developed many skills to aid in its survival in the environment it has adapted to.

They weigh about 300 pounds and males quiet larger than females, They come in various colors example, gray, white, yellow and many more. Harbor seals eat fish, and their blubber helps to keep them warm. Their skin is made for them to swim vividly in the water.

Research shows that elephant seals come to shore mainly to breed and moult and prefer sandy or stone beaches (Carrick and Ingham, 1960). On Macquarie Island, the elephant seal breeds mainly on the northern tip of the island where there is an extensive beach area that is easy for the seals to come ashore (Carrick and Ingham, 1960). However, dotted around the entire island there are also other colonies of substantial numbers on other sandy beaches (DPIWE, 2003).

Harbor seal Harbor seal is pretty small when compared to other seal species. Harbor seals usually come in dark brown, tan and different shades of grey. They mainly eat fish and shellfish. The harbor seal fits in as a secondary consumer, meaning it is a carnivore and eats primary consumers such as fish.

The different types of seals are the Leopard Seal, Harp Seal, Gray Seal, Northern Elephant Seal, Southern Elephant Seal, Weddell Seal, Hawaiian Monk Seal, and the Mediterranean Monk Seal. Seals have quite a spread when it comes to their habitats. They can be found in the cold regions of the Antarctic, to warm, extremely sunny places. They are able to survive in the icy conditions due to the layers of blubber on their bodies that keeps them warm. The seals that live in colder regions are heavier in size. Seals are breathtaking, more people should educate themselves on seals so the seals can be

Steller sea lions have few predators. Their main predators are killer whales, Great white sharks, Pacific sleeper sharks, and humans. Steller sea lions defend themselves by outswimming their predators. They can also sense when predators are nearby and their biggest defense is to get onto land. Their preys are the wide range of animals that they feed on. They track their behavior by diving deep as the prey moves deeper, and they gather in groups in locations that have seasonal runs of fish.

They are predators; mostly carnivores that feed on fish, squid, molluscs, crustaceans and marine animals; some are herbivores that feed on plankton. They can also be filter-feeders or scavengers.

Leopard seals can reach up to 12 feet long and weigh over 1000 pounds. Leopard seals teeth are about 1 inch long. Leopard seals alo typically hunt alone. The leopard seal can also swim up to 24 miles per hour. Leopard seals also have a life expectancy of 12-14 years. They are the third largest seals in the world. Leopard seals also play with their food, they will chase penguins back and forth towards the shore until the penguin tires out.

shellfish and zooplankton such as foraminifera and pteropods. These organisms, especially zooplankton, are the base of the marine food chain, as they provide energy in the form of food for animals higher up the food chain. The levels of calcium carbonate, minerals that calcifying species use to build their exoskeleton, in the ocean are disturbed by the increased amounts of carbon dioxide that is being absorbed. This new absorption is causing some parts of the ocean to become unsaturated with this important compound, and therefore making them less available to the calcifying organisms that need them. Without these protective shells, organisms are unable to survive, leading to a rapid decrease in their populations.

Harp seals strive through tough ecosystems with many predators like polar bears, bull sharks, and orcas

Animals that live in oceanic ecosystems are: Sharks and rays, many varieties of fish, dolphins, sea cucumbers and turtles. Plant life includes: kelp, seaweed, sea grass, algae and coral

Killer whale is known as the Orca or their scientific name, Orcunus Orca. Killer whale is the largest of the dolphin family and also the strongest and powerful predators. The Orca has the name killer whale because they can take down any large creature such as seals, sea lion or even white shark. The killer whale’s current population range is about 50,000 and they are the most distributed marine mammals. Their territory extends from the Artic to the Antarctic but they mostly can be found in the cold-water upwelling areas such as the Pacific Northwest, the Southern Ocean that has high latitude. Not only they can be found in the cold ocean, many data has also shown that they have been seen in the warmer area such as Florida or Hawaii. They are predators, so they eat marine animals such as seals, sea lions, fish, sea turtles, birds or even the great white shark. The difference between the female and the male killer whale is the male Orca is 32 feet long; weight 22,000 pounds with 6 feet tall dorsal fin while the female Orca is 28 feet long; weight 16,500 pounds with a little curve dorsal fin on the back. Their color is black on the upper body and white color on the lower body with gray saddle on their back or behind their dorsal fin. They have two white spot on the side of their face called eyespot. Even though the eyespots look like the eyes, the Orca’s eyes and ears are actually located below the eyespots. They depend on their sound and vocal to communicating, navigating,

Just like the plants, the animals have adaptations to their environment. One of the top predators is the tiger shark, their adaptation is their teeth that help them catch prey. One of the animals is a narwhal, their adaptation is their coloring that helps them camouflage in arctic waters. The second animal is a green sea turtle, their adaptation is their long paddle-like flippers for swimming. The third animal is a blue-footed booby bird, their adaptation is that they are good swimmers to utilize their prey. The last animal is a sea otter, their adaptation is their long whiskers to detect vibrations. The animals talked about before are only five of the many animals in the marine biome. The animals obtain food from other plants, or animals within this biome. The same plants provide the animals with shelter. Scientists use food webs to show the feeding relationships between certain animals. A food web is a diagram that shows all feeding relationships in a community at each trophic level. As written above the tiger shark is the top predator so nothing will eat it, that would be at the top of the food web. At the bottom as producers would be mollusks which are invertebrates with a soft body often covered by a shell, they have a mantle that covers its internal organs, and have an organ called a “foot”, in this case it would be crabs, or snails. Another