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Marine biology covers a great deal, from the microscopic plankton, including femtoplankton as small as 0.02 micrometers, and together with phytoplankton, hugely important as the primary producers of the sea, to the huge cetaceans (or whales) which reach up to a reported 33 meters (109 feet) in length.
The habitats included by investigation in marine biology include everything from the tiny layers of surface water in which organisms and abiotic items may be trapped in surface tension between the ocean and atmosphere, to the depths of the abyssal trenches, sometimes 10,000 meters or more beneath the surface of the ocean. Along the way, habitats such as coral reefs, kelp forests, tidepools , muddy, sandy, and rocky bottoms, and the open ocean (pelagic) zone, where solid objects are rare and the surface of the water is the only visible boundary.
A large (exactly how large is unknown at this point) proportion of all life on earth is contained in the oceans. While the oceans comprise about 71% of the Earth's surface, due to their depth they encompass about 300 times the habitable volume of the terrestrial habitats on Earth.
Many species are economically important to humans, including the food fisheslobster boat unloading its catch in Ilfracombe harbour, North Devon, England A fishery (plural: fisheries) is an organized effort by humans to catch fish or other aquatic species, an activity known as fishing. Generally, a fishery exists for the purpose o. It is also becoming understood that the well being of marine organisms and non ocean dwelling organisms is linked in some very fundamental ways. Human understanding of the relationship between life in the sea and important cycles of matter (such as the carbon cycleThe carbon cycle is a biogeochemical cycle. It is the process by which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of some habitable body (such as the Earth). All of these parts are reservoirs of carbon. The cycle is u) and movement of energy through ecosystems is also growing, despite large areas beneath the surface of the ocean remaining effectively unexplored.
The marine ecosystem is large, and thus there are quite a number of subfields in marine biology, mostly involving specializations in particular species and biomes, such as reef habitats, tide poolTide pools are areas on rocks by the ocean that are filled with seawater. Tide pools can either be small and shallow or large and deep. The small ones are usually found far back on the shore and the large ones are found nearer to the ocean. Tide pools for ecology, and geothermal/hydrothermal vents.
There are also subfields reserved for studying the physical effects of continual immersion in sea waterSea water is water from a sea or ocean. On average, sea water in the world's oceans has a salinity of ~3. This means that for every 1 liter (1000mL) of sea water there are 35 grams of salts (mostly, but not entirely, sodium chloride) dissolved in it., and the ocean in general, as well as for the ways that various changing oceanic properties affect marine life. Not being our realm, scientists study how various organisms have adapted to this salty environment. In addition, a subfield of marine biology studies the relationships between oceans and ocean life, and global weather and environmental issues (such as carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. One of the best known of chemical compounds, it is frequently called by its formula: :CO (pronunciation: "see oh two") Carbon dioxide results from the combustion of organic displacement).
Recent marine biotechnology has focused largely on marine biomoleculeMany marine biomolecules have found technology applications. Pardaxin, produced by the red sea sole, is a potent shark repellent. Green Fluorescent Protein, produced by algae, has been used in recombinant form to make rabbits glow.s, especially proteinmyoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. This protein was the first to have its structure solved by X-ray crystallography by Max Perutz and Sir John Cowdery Kendrew in 1958, which led to them receiving a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. A protein is a complex,s, that may have uses in medicine or engineering. An interesting branch of marine biology is aquaculture. Marine environments are the home to many exotic biological materials that may inspire biomimetic material s.
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