The whale shark is the biggest living fish in the ocean. Despite its name and enormous size, it is a shark rather than a whale. This spotted giant feeds mainly by filtering plankton and small animals from seawater, a strategy very different from the large-prey hunting often associated with sharks. Its size record and feeding…
More
A tide pool is a pocket of seawater left in a depression on a rocky shore when the tide recedes. It may be only inches across or large and deep enough to hold fish. For the hours before the ocean returns, the pool becomes a small, partly isolated habitat where temperature, salinity and oxygen can…
A mangrove forest is a coastal wetland dominated by salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that grow where tropical or subtropical land meets sheltered seawater. Its most visible feature is often a maze of roots standing above mud or water. Those roots anchor trees in soft sediment and create habitat used by fish, crabs, birds and many…
A kelp forest is a dense underwater habitat formed by large brown algae along cool, shallow, rocky coasts. Kelp is not a tree or even a plant in the botanical sense. It is algae, yet tall species can create a canopy, shaded middle layers and a crowded seafloor that function much like the levels of…
