The abundance of surface water on Earth is a unique feature in the Solar System. Quantities in relation to 1 kg or 1 litre of sea water. The Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi referred to water as the mater und matrix: the mother and womb of life. Water is the only common substance to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas under conditions normal to life on Earth. It has been described as the universal solvent for its ability to dissolve many substances, and as the solvent of life. The term marine comes from the Latin mare, meaning 'sea' or 'ocean'. Marine life is studied scientifically in both marine biology and in biological oceanography. Marine microorganisms, including protists and bacteria and their associated viruses, have been variously estimated as constituting about 70% or about 90% of the total marine biomass. Marine species range in size from the microscopic like phytoplankton, which can be as small as 0.02 micrometres, to huge cetaceans like the blue whale – the largest known animal, reaching 33 m (108 ft) in length. An average of 2,332 new species per year are being described. dolphins, whales, otters, and seals) need to surface periodically to breathe air.Īs of 2023, more than 242,000 marine species have been documented, and perhaps two million marine species are yet to be documented. Fish have gills instead of lungs, although some species of fish, such as the lungfish, have both. Marine invertebrates exhibit a wide range of modifications to survive in poorly oxygenated waters, including breathing tubes as in mollusc siphons. Plankton forms the general foundation of the ocean food chain, particularly phytoplankton which are key primary producers. Plant forms such as kelp and other algae grow in the water and are the basis for some underwater ecosystems. One group of amphibians evolved into reptiles and mammals and a few subsets of each returned to the ocean as sea snakes, sea turtles, seals, manatees, and whales. Some of these evolved into amphibians, which spend portions of their lives in water and portions on land. The earliest vertebrates appeared in the form of fish, which live exclusively in water. By volume, oceans provide about 90% of the living space on the planet. Most life forms evolved initially in marine habitats. Marine life in part shape and protect shorelines, and some marine organisms even help create new land (e.g. Marine organisms, mostly microorganisms, produce oxygen and sequester carbon. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. This is nature documentary at its best.Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals, and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. the mating rituals of several species, and the spawning of corals. To develop and, in time, coral larvae return to colonise the rubble and a new reef grows on the wasteland.īreathtaking scenes in this episode includes coral polyps fighting, a Snapping Shrimp colony living in a sponge and fighting off a Feeding frenzies disturb the otherwise eerie calm of the reef.Īn entire reef can be destroyed by one big storm: hundreds of years of growth wiped out in a few hours. Whitetip sharks use their electrical sense to Moray eels slither around the corals hunting by smell. The only protectionĪ coral can hope for is a small crab which takes up residence in the coral's branches and uses its pincers to nip the starfish to see it This soft sand forms beautiful tropical white beaches and eventually creates tropical islands!Ī sinister crown of thorns starfish slides on to a coral, spreads its stomach over the polyps and digests them whole. On a single reef they can produce tonnes of sand every year. These fish erode the coral and the material they swallow comes out the other end as fine sand. Overcrowding follows as corals expand and soon they're fighting - digesting their neighbours alive under cover of darkness.Ĭorals are protected by a hard, limestone skeleton, but bumphead parrot fish bite straight through rock and coral with their powerful jaws. A tiny algae that lives in its tissues allows the coral to grow night and day and as more corals settle, a reef develops. Soon it's a coral head, cemented and secure on Life on a coral reef starts with one coral larva which lands in the right place and grows. DVD BBC The Blue Planet Disc 3: Coral Seas (2002) BBC The Blue Planet Disc 3: Coral Seas (2002)

Blue planet sea of life coral seas