OCEAN BIOMES

Presented by:
Ina Mae Sison
Karla Faith Santamaria
Meloh Aleyen Grace Consular
 What is an Ocean
biome?
The vast oceans are the largest ecosystem in the world.
The oceans are home to the richest and most diverse
habitat on this planet. Right from the microscopic
creatures to the gigantic blue whale, an ocean biome
supports the highest number of life forms, than all other
biomes combined together. Many scientists believe that
life evolved in the ocean biome about three million years
ago. The oceans are divided into four zones, each
buzzing with different life forms. These are: intertidal,
pelagic, benthic and abyssal. Due to the sheer expanse
of the oceans, there exist many ecosystems based on
temperature, sunlight and nutrients of a particular region.
FOUR DIFFERENT ZONES
*INTERTIDAL ZONE

*PELAGIC ZONE

*BENTHIC ZONE

*ABYSSAL ZONE
INTERTIDAL ZONE

The intertidal zone (also known as the

foreshore and sometimes referred to as the
littoral zone) is the area that is exposed to the
air at low tide and underwater at high tide (for
example, the area between tide marks). This
area can include many different types of
habitats, including steep rocky cliffs, sandy
beaches, or wetlands (e.g., vast mudflats). The
area can be a narrow strip, as in Pacific islands
that have only a narrow tidal range, or can
include many meters of shoreline where shallow
beach slope interacts with high tidal excursion.
 PELAGIC ZONE
The pelagic zone includes those waters further
from the land, basically the open ocean. The pelagic
zone is generally cold though it is hard to give a
general temperature range since, just like ponds and
lakes, there is thermal stratification with a constant
mixing of warm and cold ocean currents. The flora in
the pelagic zone include surface seaweeds. The fauna
include many species of fish and some mammals,
such as whales and dolphins. Many feed on the
abundant plankton.
BENTHIC ZONE
The benthic zone is the area below the pelagic
zone, but does not include the very deepest parts
of the ocean. The bottom of the zone consists of
sand, slit, and/or dead organisms. Here
temperature decreases as depth increases toward
the abyssal zone, since light cannot penetrate
through the deeper water. Flora are represented
primarily by seaweed while the fauna, since it is
very nutrient-rich, include all sorts of bacteria,
fungi, sponges, sea anemones, worms, sea stars,
and fishes.
 ABYSSAL ZONE
The deep ocean is the abyssal zone. The
water in this region is very cold (around 3° C),
highly pressured, high in oxygen content, but
low in nutritional content. The abyssal zone
supports many species of invertebrates and
fishes. Mid-ocean ridges (spreading zones
between tectonic plates), often with
hydrothermal vents, are found in the abyssal
zones along the ocean floors. Chemosynthetic
bacteria thrive near these vents because of the
large amounts of hydrogen sulfide and other
minerals they emit. These bacteria are thus the
start of the food web as they are eaten by
invertebrates and fishes.
 GEOGRAPHY
Since the Earth’s surface is
covered of 70% of water,
ocean biomes can be found in
most places in the world such
as the Pacific Ocean, the
Arctic Ocean, the Indian
Ocean and so on.
 WEATHER
 the average temperature of all ocean is
about 3.8 degrees Celsius.
 Climate does not have much effect on
the marine biome, but the marine biome
largely affects our terrestrial climate.
 Heat from the sun only warms the
surface of the water but deep down,
oceans everywhere are cold and dark.
 Plants
 There are two general types of plants found in the
ocean, those having roots that are attached to the
ocean bottom and those not having roots which
simply drift about with the water. The rooted plants in
the ocean are only found in shallow water because
there is not enough sunlight to sustain photosynthesis
in deeper waters. Since sunlight does not penetrate
more than a few hundred feet into the ocean, most of
the ocean is not capable of supporting rooted plants.
Nevertheless, plants are found throughout most of
the oceanic surface waters.
Examples of Plants in the Ocean

Kelp- Coral-

Green algae
Phytoplankton-
Examples of Animals found in the
Ocean
zooplankton blue whale

anglerfish sea otter

 FOOD CHAIN

kelp small fish big fish

whale
 FOOD CHAIN

zooplankton phytoplankton tuna herring human

“If we kill everything in
the ocean, and if we
pollute the ocean to a
point where it can’t
sustain life, we’re
committing suicide.”

-Peter Branchley
Q
U
E NEXT
S
T SLIDE…
I
O
N
S
Fill in the blanks.
1. The _____ biome is the largest marine biome of
the world.
2. Since the Earth’s surface is covered of ___% of
water, ocean biomes can be found in most places
in the world.
3. The ______ zone is the area that is exposed to
the air at low tide and underwater at high tide.
4. The deep ocean is the ____ zone.
5. The _____ zone includes those waters further
from the land, basically the open ocean
6. The average temperature of all ocean is about
___ degrees Celsius.
Write TRUE or FALSE.
7. The rooted plants in the ocean are only found in deep waters
because there is enough sunlight to sustain photosynthesis.
8. Many scientists believe that life evolved in the ocean biome
about three billion years ago.
9. Climate does have much effect on the marine biome, but the
marine biome does not largely affects our terrestrial climate.
Identify.
10. What plant is this? 11. What animal is this?

Enumeration.
12-15. What are the four different zones in the ocean? (in any
order)
A
N
S
иэ׍ W
šĻĨđĕ…. E
R
S
 ANSWERS
1. ocean 9. false
2. 70 10. kelp
3. intertidal 11. zooplankton
4. abyssal 12-15.
5. pelagic intertidal
6. 3.8 benthic
7. false abyssal
8. false pelagic