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Aug 2 2012 - 3:20pm
Closest to the seeps, where the pH is lowest and the water is most acidic, corals no longer grow. Instead there are sand, rubble and seagrasses that are able to survive.
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Feb 27 2013 - 9:38pm
Around 100 million years ago, grass from land adapted to live and reproduce while submerged in seawater—the modern-day seagrasses. This sea invasion by land plants happened four separate times, resulting in four unrelated families of 50-60 total seagrass species, which can be found on the coast of...
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Sep 24 2012 - 10:45am
In this close-up photo, you can actually see the photosynthetic algae, or zooxanthellae, living inside a tiny coral polyp. Look for the brownish-green specks in the colorless polyp. Corals depend on these algae for food and for some of their oxygen. To learn more about coral reefs, explore our...
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Jul 26 2011 - 11:45am
Macroscopic algae (Ventricaria ventricosa), also known as "bubble algae" or "sea pearl," is widespread algal species that can withstand low light. Each of the bubbles is a single cell, making it one of the largest single-celled organisms known, reaching up to 5 centimeters in diameter. They are...
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Feb 3 2012 - 11:16am
Dugongs, along with manatees, make up a group of marine mammals called sirenians or seacows. In the modern world, only one species of seacow is found in any one place in the world. However, the fossil record of seacows, which dates back 50 million years, tells a different story.
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Oct 22 2012 - 9:01am
A diet of algae and seagrasses gives this turtle (Chelonia mydas) greenish colored fat—and its name. Weighing as much as 500 pounds, the threatened green sea turtle lives its life at sea, with only females coming to shore to lay eggs. See a slideshow with more pictures of beautiful but threatened...
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Sep 6 2012 - 11:05am
In the ocean, microscopic forms of algae, known as dinoflagellates, can "bloom" into dense patches near the surface, often referred to as "red tides." Some of these harmful algal blooms (HABs) are dangerous, producing toxins that can kill marine organisms, taint shellfish, cause skin irritations,...
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Sep 27 2011 - 1:09pm
Regardless of what continent you live on, the waters that surround it are home to marine invaders. The ocean is teeming with plants and animals willing and able to move beyond their native habitats. Often all they need is a ride. Enter: humans. Some invaders hitchhike on ship hulls or inside...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
What are corals? Corals themselves are animals. But tropical reef-building corals have tiny plant-like organisms living in their tissue. The corals couldn’t survive without these microscopic algae–called zooxanthellae (zo-zan-THELL-ee). This cutaway diagram of a coral polyp shows where the...
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Dec 4 2012 - 11:26am
Munch, munch. The queen parrotfish (Scarus vetula) scrapes algae from Caribbean coral reefs with its parrot-like beak. While feeding, hard stone and coral inevitably get mixed into its lunch, which in turn gets ground up by the fish and deposited back into the ecosystem as sand! This fish is...
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Dec 16 2011 - 11:16am
“Sea grapes” may sound like something Poseidon would snack on, and not a killer algae. Yet Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea poses a serious threat to marine life. Spread by the bilge water of boats, this fast-growing alga is quick to take root, squeezing out native species.
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Aug 31 2012 - 4:40pm
Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is large, brown algae that grows in dense forests along coasts around the world. Their long stalks anchor each plant to the seafloor, and they grow meters high like giant trees towards the surface. Kelp forest ecosystems are home to a variety of animals, including...
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Feb 20 2013 - 10:16am
A strain of this green seaweed, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, escaped public and private aquariums in California, Japan, Australia, and Monaco. It has spread widely in the Mediterranean, replacing native plants and depriving marine life of food and habitat.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Macroscopic Algae (Acetabularia crenulata). More about mangrove ecosystems can be found in the Mangroves section.
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Aug 3 2010 - 12:26pm
The sargassum fish (Histrio histrio) is a member of the frogfish family (Antennariidae) and typically lives in open waters near floating sargassum seaweed, which offers camouflage. Although capable of swimming quite rapidly, this fish often crawls through the sargassum weed, using its pectoral fins...
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May 30 2012 - 12:38pm
The open ocean is surprisingly barren to the naked eye. Every now and again you will encounter a school of fish and their attendant predators, but most of the life that you find is gathered around some sort of sheltering structure like a coral reef.
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Dec 22 2010 - 4:21pm
Since the dawn of seafaring, humankind has had to deal with the pesky creatures that settle on ships—seaweeds, barnacles, and others that take advantage of the empty real estate provided by a clean hull. Fouled hulls make for slower speeds and for powerboats, higher fuel costs (drag is a drag).
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Corals, sponges, and algae are the major components of most coral reef communities. To the untrained eye, they are sometimes difficult to tell apart. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.
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Dec 7 2009 - 1:48pm
Algae has overtaken this coral reef off heavily populated Kiritimati, or Christmas Island. Few fish swim in the murky waters. The causes include pollution, overfishing, and increased water temperature. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
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Jul 5 2011 - 6:20pm
Algae, like all organisms, normally grow in balance with their ecosystems, limited by the amount of nutrients in the water. But sometimes, certain species of algae reproduce so rapidly that they cause damage. In the ocean, microscopic forms of algae can "bloom" into dense patches near the surface,...
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