The average depth of the sea is 3,790m (12,430 ft),
but one great trench in the Pacific Ocean is 11,034 m (36,200 ft).
Near the surface tiny plants and animals live,
as the sea gets warmth and light from the sun.
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"To me the sea is a
continual miracle,
The fishes that swim-the rocks-the motions of the waves-
the ships with men
in them-
What stranger miracles
are there?"
From Miracles by
Walt Whitman |
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Man made Myth
Fish is good for the brain. The faith in fish
as brain food, arose after a 19th century German philosopher, Friedrich Buchner,
declared, on hearing that the brain contained phosphorus,"Without phosphorus,
there is no thought."A French chemist ,Jean Dumas, established that fish
were rich in the
mineral ; and Jean Louis Agassiz, put the two ideas together. In fact , food
is used by the body as a whole. Phosphorus is so common in the earth that
most foods contain it anyway.
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The greatest wingspan is
that of the male wandering
albatross which had a
wingspan of
3.63m/11 ft 11 inches
in 1965.
They also lays the largest
eggs laid by a seabird.
487g/17.2 oz and have
the longest incubation
period. It has been
measured at up
to 85 days. |
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The largest Ocean is the
Pacific. It represents
nearly 50% of
the worlds oceans. |
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The tide is
high
Media clip to play or download of Blondies
hit |
Sea water is always salty,
it comes from minerals
especially sodium,which
has dissolved from the
rocks the sea has covered.
Warm seas are saltier than
cold ones. |
Green glass
By Fiona
Green glass of
Waves' back
Hit the ground
With mighty crack.
Break into a
Thousand prisms
Each a tiny
Circular prison
Full of rainbows
And diamond tears
Swirling, pounding full of fears
Creeping towards
The sandy beach
The foamy hand
Will sometime reach
Then back into the
Depths it crawls
Swept up in glass
until it falls. |
The Dead Sea
is the saltiest
sea in the world.
It is so salty
no plants or
animals can
survive in it.
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OceanLink: An Interactive
Information Page for the Marine Sciences
We think the sea is blue, but this is not so. It is
colourless and reflects the sky above. So if it is a wet grey day, the
sea will appear grey. |
In numbers and
varieties of actual
living things, the sea
more than
equals the land |
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Nearly 3/4 of the world
discovered in water.
There are 5 great oceans-
The Atlantic,
The Pacific,The Indian,
The Arctic
and the Antarctic-
and a number of
smaller seas.
Under
the Sea
Media file to play
or download |
Seaworld |
"Roll on , thou deep and dark blue
ocean-roll!"
Lord Byron from The Ocean |
The mid - depths lie between 250 - 1,00 m (820 - 3,280
ft). The deeper the waters the gloomier it gets. Many fish produce their
own light from their body to combat this. The light may be used
to confuse predators.
The deeper you go the greater the pressure. Pressure
increases by +1 atmosphere per 10 metres. So at only 10 metres underwater
the pressure is twice that at the surface. |
Greenpeace
International
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The tiniest plants
and animals in the
sea are so small
you cannot see them,
yet they sustain
the largest animal
found in the sea.
They are called
plankton and
the largest animal
(mammal) is the
blue whale.
It can eat 2 tonnes
of plankton a day.
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Dolphins and porpoises
clip art and animations and backgrounds
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Flipper
A media clip to
play or download
Irish Dolphins. Cetaceans: whales and
dolphins of Ireland, including Fun
Mandurah
Dolphins
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Wild
Dolphins
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The Dolphin Institute - Whale
& Dolphin Research - Honolulu, Hawaii
Welcome to Dolphin Research
Center |
Delphina's Dolphin
Poetry
Adopt
a Dolphin
Wild Animal Watch:
Dolphins
MacGillivray Freeman's
DOLPHINS |
Dolphins, Whales, &
Manatees |
"We wander'd to the
Pine Forest
That skirts the Ocean's
foam;
The lightest wind was
in its nest,
The tempest in its home.
The whispering waves were
half asleep
The clouds were gone
to play,
And on the bosom of
the deep
The smile of Heaven
lay;"
From The Recollection
by Shelley |
Wavs
click on the link
to download or play.
Common
Dolphin
Dolphins
Spotted
dolphin |
The blue whale is the largest and heaviest animal
in the world.
The longest measured was 110 ft2 1/2 inches
between 1904 and 1920.
The heaviest weighed was 190 tonnes weighed in 1947
by the Russian whaling fleet. |
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Whales
|
Wavs
click on the link
to download or play.
Male Humpbacked whale
singing
Humpback whales
chorus
Pilot whale
Sperm Whale
Whale cry |
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The longest migration made by a mammal are
those made by the grey whale. In the autumn they leave the Bering
Sea and travel 6000 miles southwards
to the breeding grounds off California and Mexico. Here they
breed and raise their young before returning north the following spring to
the feeding grounds. |
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Aquatica virtual
aquarium and tropical fish screen saver - virtual aquarium |
Whaling has gone on for many years. In the nineteenth
century the first sailor to spot the spout of a whale would call " Thar she
blows!" for which he might be rewarded with a sack of tobacco as a
bonus.
They caught 35 to 40 whales in a three year
trip.
Thirty years ago, at the peak of industrial whaling,
as many whales were processed in the space of two weeks!
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Greenpeace
Australia
Greenpeace
Canada
Greenpeace
International Homepage
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The French novelist Jules
Verne anticipated many
scientific possibilities in his
stories. The setting of one
of these was Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea, is
of particular interest because
of the breathing devices it
describes. They were
remarkably accurate to what
the first diving suits did look
like, although when the story
was written they had yet
to be invented.
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