Key abiotic characteristics of the ocean Temperature- Cold at the poles - Cold in the deep Depth – Avg depth: 2.5 Miles - Deepest: 7 Miles Light- Dark below 1000 ft - Most life in first 1000 ft Salinity - Salty

Plankton DRIFTERS- don’t actively swim Found worldwide Phytoplankton Producers Base of oceanic food web Make over half of world’s oxygen Zooplankton Consumers Most are microscopic, some, like jellyfish can be 10 ft wide or 100 ft long

Coral Reef Few nutrients in water – Clear Coral live symbiotically with zooxanthellae (algae) Coral get food from the algae Algae get fertilizer (waste) from coral.

Kelp Forest Cool, nutrient rich water Habitat and Food Can grow 2ft per day, and 100ft deep

Estuary Mix of fresh and salt water Nutrient rich Abundant life – three biomes in one: land meets fresh and salt water.

Deep Sea Cold, dark, high pressure No producers Most of ocean is the deep sea

Sargasso Sea Open ocean with rafts of Sargasso floating (sea weed) Fish and invertebrates mimic Sargasso

Polar Ice Ice covered seas Life dependent on Plankton (Krill)