The Open Ocean  By: Sarah Malone

Productivity  The average ocean productivity is about 50 grams of carbon per square meter

Major life forms Fish - Sharks, swordfish, tuna, clown fish, grouper, stingray, flatfish, eels, rockfish, seahorse, sunfish mola, and gars. Marine mammals - Blue whales, seals, walruses, dolphins, manatees, and otters.

Abiotic limiting factors Sunlight  Temperature Moisture  Wind Water currents  Soil types  Nutrient availability

Special features The estimated 64% of the oceans lying beyond such coastal waters are known as the High Seas. Covering over half the Earth's surface and making up 80% of its living space, or biosphere, these open ocean and deep sea environments are some of the least-explored areas on the planet.

Plant adaptations  Buoyancy Adaptations. Most ocean going plants have adapted to their environment by developing gas sacs and air sacks to lift their photosynthetic surfaces towards the surface of the water, to collect sunlight. Particularly in the deep ocean, these sorts of adaptations are critical.

Animal adaptations Adaptations for Survival in the Sea explores some of the adaptations used by various sea creatures to survive. For example, some animals use camouflage to escape detection or to sneak up on their prey, while other animals have coloration which intentionally makes them stand out.

Citations www.oceanicresearch.org/education/films/a dap.html https://ci.coastal.edu/~sgilman/770producti vitynutrients.htm https://sciencing.com/adaptations-ocean- plants-6560351.html  wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_plane t/open_ocean/   study.com/academy/lesson/open-ocean- biome-plants-animals-climate- definition.html