Oceans Alive: Resource Book by Teacher Superstore

Special School Photocopy Master Edition

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Resource Book

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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o c . che e r o t r s super by Sandy Tasker

About Ready-Ed Publications Ready-Ed Publications was established in 1984 with the purpose of creating practical classroom blackline master activities. At the time, the role of the teacher was becoming ever more diverse with an increasing range of duties and responsibilities within the school and school community. Since then, the role of the teacher has continued to evolve with an escalating range of tasks and obligations, ensuring a reduction in time available to prepare work for the daily instructional program.

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Throughout these past 21 years, Ready-Ed Publications has built a reputation as publishers of Australian made, high quality, innovative, timesaving materials for teachers of primary and lower secondary levels. In addition, all materials are based on state or national curriculum guidelines or specific age-related interest areas and subjects.

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Ready-Ed Publications aims to assist busy professionals by making available contemporary classroom materials that contain relevant and stimulating work to support the requirements of the curriculum.

NOAA credits: Images courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce.

ii. Clip art images have been obtained from Microsoft Design Gallery Live and are used under the terms of the End User License Agreement for Microsoft Word 2000. Please refer to www.microsoft.com/permission.

iii. IMSI credits: Where credited the images used were obtained from IMSI’s Masterclips/MasterPhotos collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd, East San Rafael, CA 94901-5506 USA. www.imsisoft.com iv. COREL credits: Where credited the images used were obtained from Corel Corporation collection, 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7.

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Cover images:

Tropical rainbow fish, barnacles, starfish – IMSI Collection

ii. Surfer, SCUBA diver, beach scene – Courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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Published by: Ready-Ed Publications PO Box 276 Greenwood WA 6023 www.readyed.com.au info@readyed.com.au

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v. Photos from individual sources have been acknowledged where applicable. While every attempt has been made to acknowledge the ownership of photos used herein, in some instances this has not been possible. If you know of the photographers for these images, please contact the publisher so that proper acknowledgement can be given.

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ISBN: 1 86397 644 2

COPYRIGHT NOTICE FOR THIS SPECIAL PHOTOCOPY MASTER EDITION Permission is granted for the purchaser to photocopy sufficient copies for non-commercial educational purposes. However, this permission is not transferable and applies only to the purchasing individual or institution.

OCEANS ALIVE

Contents Reef Life – Simply Super ............. 34

The Wonderful World of Oceans ... 5

Reef Life – Weird Worms ............ 35

Map it Out ................................... 6

Reef Life – Marvellous Molluscs .. 36

Oceans Alive................................ 7

Reef Life – Home Sweet Shell ..... 37

Ocean Environments .................... 8

Reef Life – More Molluscs........... 38

Ocean Industries – Fishing............ 9

Reef Life – What a Sucker! ......... 39

Ocean Industries – Oil Mining .... 10

Reef Life – Crustacean Celebration... 40

Ocean Industries – Pearling ........ 11

Reef Life – Predators Beware ...... 41

Ocean Industries – Ship to Shore 12

Reef Fish – The Class Clown ....... 42

Seascapes ................................. 13

Reef Fish – Hide and Seek .......... 43

Valleys and Volcanoes ................ 14

Threats to Coral Reefs ................ 44

The Ocean in Motion - Currents . 15

The World of Whales .................. 45

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Contents ...................................... 3

Whale Types .............................. 46 © R e a d y E d P ubl i cat i ons The Ocean in Motion - Tsunamis 17 Whale Watch ............................. 47 More About Tsunamis ................ Delightful Dolphins •f o rr e vi ew18pur pose so.................... nl y• 48 The Ocean in Motion - Waves..... 16

Streamlined Seals ...................... 49

Chill Out on an Iceberg .............. 20

The Truth About Sharks .............. 50

The Tip of the Iceberg ................ 21

Make Way for the Ray ................ 51

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The Ocean in Motion - Tides ...... 19

Pass the Salt .............................. 22

Turtle Tales ................................ 52

Ocean Exploration ..................... 23

Food Chains .............................. 53

Mysteries of the Twilight Zone ..... 54 . t Submersibles e ............................. 25 Deep, Dark and Dangerous ........ 55 o c . Super Scuba .............................. ......................... 56 che 26 The Giant Squidr e o Scuba News ............................... 27 Unders the Microscope ................ 57 t r s r u e p Tide Pools .................................. 28 Plant Life in the Sea ................... 58 Submarines are Cool Machines .. 24

Tide Pools – On the Rocks .......... 29

Explore the Kelp Forests ............. 59

Tide Pools – What a Star! ........... 30

Birds of the Sea.......................... 60

Tide Pool Safety ......................... 31

Sea Bird Adaptations ................. 61

Remarkable Reefs ...................... 32

Fun in the Sun ........................... 62

Reef Life – Cool Coral ................ 33

Oceans Online ........................... 63 3

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OCEANS ALIVE

The Wonderful World of Oceans

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READ ALL ABOUT IT

z Ocean jobs for everyone z The underwater

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Where in the world is the highest mountain? The deepest valley? Where in the world live mysterious creatures that glow in the dark and an animal that is bigger than the dinosaurs were? The answer to all these questions … the ocean! The ocean covers 71% of our planet – that’s almost three quarters! Although humans have explored most of our Earth’s dry land, the ocean is another story. For many years, humans have © R e a d y E dPubl i cat i ons been fascinated by the mysteries of the deep sea. Whyp not •f orblue r ev i ew ur posesonl y• join the club of ocean explorers and dive in to this book? Don’t forget your snorkel!

z Tiptoe through a tide pool z Creatures of the reef z Meet the mammals –

o c . landscape - valleys c e dolphins, whales and seals r and volcanoes h er o t s super z Size up a shark z The ocean in motion – currents, tides and waves z Chill out on an iceberg z Pass the salt – why is the sea salty? z Subs and SCUBAS – see the sea

z Marvel at the mysterious

creatures of the deep z Plant life – an underwater garden z Stick your beak into ocean bird-life z Fun in the sun 5

OCEANS ALIVE

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Map it Out

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The ocean is actually one Look and Sea: massive interconnected body © ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons of water called the World Check out a map of f o evi e w pur p oseso nl y• Ocean Ocean,• but itr is r divided up Australia and find: into five smaller oceans: z Coral Sea z Tasman Sea zPacific Ocean z Arafura Sea zAtlantic Ocean z Timor Sea zIndian Ocean z Bass Strait zSouthern Ocean z Torres Strait z The Gulf of Carpentaria zArctic Ocean

o c . che e r o t r s super Smaller areas of the

ocean are called seas seas, gulfs and straits straits. These areas of water are partially surrounded by land. 6

OCEANS ALIVE

Oceans Alive As you can probably imagine, the ocean is full of amazing ecosystems. The plants and animals adapt to the type of ocean environment they live in. Read about the different types of ocean habitat on Page 8.

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In an ecosystem, the plants and animals interact with each other and with their environment.

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z Fish – See a rainbow of colour with Marine animals and plants clownfish, angelfish and seahorses can be divided up into several categories. You will learn z Mammals – Make more about these friends with graceful later in the book: whales, dolphins and seals z Crustaceans – Crusty creatures like z Sharks – The crabs, lobsters, shrimp ultimate hunting machine and barnacles z Marine Reptiles – Tag along © R e a d y E d P u b l i cat i ons z Echinoderms – Spiky sea stars with a turtle and• seaf urchins o rr evi ew pu r p osesCreatures onl y–• ·z Microscopic Get up z Cnidarias – The surprising lives close with plankton and krill of corals and sea anemones z Sea birds – Take flight with z Sponges – Spectacular animals seagulls, pelicans and heron that look more like plants z Algae and seaweed z Sea Worms – Not your everyday z Kelp Forests garden worm z Molluscs – With or without shells? Introducing mussels, clams and the wonderful squid and octopus

A habitat is the natural environment in which animals and plants live. 7

OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Environments In this book, you will learn all about different ocean environments. Here is a summary of the plants and animals that you might find in each. Ocean Habitat

TIDE POOLS

Description

Animals

Sea birds such as seagulls, pelicans, sea lions, crabs, turtles Rocky areas on Sea anemone, All over the sea star, crab, world on rocky the beach where waves barnacles, sea shores are caught in urchin rocky pools

All over the world, where the ocean meets the shore

Strips of sand or pebbles – can be wide or narrow

Found in warm seas between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn

Colourful habitat with a large range of marine life living amongst colonies of coral and sponge

Coral polyps, sponges, sea anemones, tropical fish, crustaceans

Cool coastal waters where sunlight can reach (fairly shallow)

Giant seaweed rising up from the bottom and floating on top

From 3000 feet to the ocean floor (up to 11 kilometres deep in some places)

Dark, cold, lots of pressure, not as much marine life

Sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sponges, fish and eels, lobsters, jellyfish, sea otters Whales, sharks, rays, dolphins, sea lions. Fish: tuna, herring and mackerel Angler fish, gulper eel, hatchet fish, lantern fish and sea cucumbers, worms, crustaceans

Plants

Washed up seaweed, spinifex grass, pigface, guinea flower Mainly algae and seaweed, phytoplankton

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BEACHES

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Phytoplankton algae, seagrasses, seaweed

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OPEN OCEAN

DEEP OCEAN

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KELP FORESTS

Phytoplankton kelp (seaweed)

o c . Open areas or All over the Phytoplankton c e h r ocean with world, away algae, seaweed, e o t r depths from the coast various seagrass s sup er Plants cannot survive due to lack of light

OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Industries – Fishing It has beautiful beaches and amazing creatures but that’s not all! The ocean is also a place where many people go to work each and every day.

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There are many ways that fish can be caught, including rod and line fishing, spear fishing, fishing with nets, diving for shellfish, fish trapping and using cray-pots.

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Fishing is one of the world’s biggest ocean industries. Fish, lobster, crabs, prawns, abalone, mussels, oysters, octopus, squid and shark are all popular types of seafood.

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Seafood is healthy and delicious, eaten by people all over the world. Have you ever tried any of these dishes? zFish and Chips zTuna Patties zChilli Mussels zSquid Rings zSeafood Pizza zSpaghetti Marinara zSushi

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An industry will produce goods, like seafood or oil, or services, like recreation and leisure.

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As well as fishing being a large industry for professionals, it is also a hobby for people all over the world. Some people enjoy catching fish and letting © ReadyEdP ubl i c at i on s them go, others catch a small •f orr evi ew punumber r pos es nl y• of fisho for family meals.

OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Industries – Oil Mining Did you know?

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Sometimes, a tanker will accidentally spill some oil into the sea. This can cause problems for the ocean environment. Oil covers the feathers of sea 10

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Oil is formed from the decayed The oil is refined, which remains of plankton – tiny plants © R e a d y E d P u b l i c a t i o n s means it is separated into and animals that lived in the ocean millions of years ago. different tor make gas, •parts f or e vi e w pur pos e so nl y• petrol, kerosene and grease. birds and the fur of sea Oil is used to make many mammals. It stops them things such as paints, from keeping waterproof plastics, materials and and warm in the water and fertilisers. Oil is they can freeze to death. also burned in Other sea creatures power plants to swallow the oil, which make energy for can make them sick. electricity.

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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Oil mining is an industry that exists on land and in the oleum is a thick, ocean. Petr etroleum dark, sticky oil which is found underground and under the ocean. Large structures called rigs float on the ocean or stand on big legs and the workers drill through the ocean floor for oil. The oil is then taken by ships called tankers to refineries.

OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Industries – Pearling

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Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

mers luck. Today, pearl far farmers place a tiny bead inside the mollusc on purpose, so that the pearl will grow around it. ed These are called cultur cultured pearls pearls.

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z If you soak pearls in vinegar, they will dissolve. z You can tell a real pearl by rubbing it on your teeth – a fake pearl will feel smooth, Pearls are when aE grain ab real one will ben rough. ©formed Rea dydPu l i c at i o s of sand or another tiny object z Pearls come in a range of •f o r evi e wp r p oses onl y •gold mollusc gets inside ar mollusc, which is u colours including white, a sea creature that lives inside and black. a shell. This object may be small but it is very annoying – you might know how uncomfortable it feels to have sand in your bathing suit! Next time you pass by a jewellery store, take a peek at the pearls. Did you know that they are actually made by sea creatures?

object, forming a beautiful shiny ball called a pearl. Pearls are removed from the mollusc and made into jewellery. Finding a pearl inside a mollusc used to be a matter of

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OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Industries – Ship to Shore For locals who live near the ocean and for tourists who come to stay, the ocean is one big playground. People all over the world enjoy sailing, water skiing, fishing, diving and swimming. Do you a favourite © ReadyEdPubl i chave a t i o ns ocean activity?

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Import and export is another industry made possible by the ocean. Most countries want to buy food and products from other countries, and often, the best way to transport these goods is on large ships. Many coastal cities will have a port where goods can be imported (brought in) and exported (sent out).

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Travel and rrecr ecr eation are ocean ecreation industries that everyone can enjoy. Cruise ships are like floating hotels where people sleep in cabins whilst the ship makes its way across the ocean. These ships have swimming pools, restaurants, cinemas and games on board, so passengers always have something fun to do.

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OCEANS ALIVE

Seascapes You may think that humans know everything about the ocean, but the truth is, the deeper we go, the less we know! The ocean is divided into several zones, depending on how deep it is.

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r o e t s Bo r Twilight Zone e Sunlit Zone p o This next zone is u k The sunlit zone is the top layer, which S twilight receives most of the sunlight. This layer called the

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zone zone, where it begins extends from the water’s surface down to get quite dark. to around 180 metres. Because there is There is much less a lot of light in this zone, algae and sea life in this region, other sea plants can grow. Most sea although the life that life lives in this area as well, feeding off is there is wonderfully strange and the plant© lifeR and smaller sea ea dyE dcreatures. Publ i c a t i o n s mysterious, with OCEAN ZONATION adaptations •f orr evi ew pur pose son l y• special that help these sea High Tide creatures live with 180m less light. 914m Midnight Zone e is The midnight zon zone extremely dark and freezing cold. There is also an enormous amount of water pressure – there are hundreds of metres of water pressing down from above! Only a few creatures are able to survive at these chilly depths.

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OCEANS ALIVE

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There are many mountains and valleys in the underwater r o e t s B r elandscape, just oo like in p u the world above. k

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When mountains stick out of the ocean, they form islands. The largest underwater mountain, which rises above the surface, is Mauna Kea, ©R ady EdPubl i cat i ons near Hawaii. It ise even larger than Mount the •f oEverest, rr ev i ew pur posesonl y• largest mountain on land. The deepest point in the ocean is

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There are thousands of volcanoes under the ocean, called submarine volcanoes volcanoes. Sometimes when they erupt, a new island is created.

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the Mariana Trench, which is more than 11,000 metres deep – that’s 11 kilometres! So far, people have only been able to travel down as far as 4000 metres, so it is hard for us to know for sure what is really down there.

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Valleys and Volcanoes

OCEANS ALIVE

The Ocean in Motion - Currents

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Duck Science

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A current is the continuous movement of water from one area to another. There are currents in all r o e t s Bo of the world’s oceans. r e

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In 1992, thousands of plastic bathtub toys were spilled © ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons from a cargo ship in n bad storms. •f orr evi ew pur poseso l y • Scientists have How do currents work? studied the There are two main types of currents: movement of currents by Sur face Currents are moved by winds, Surface finding out where which blow across the water and push it the floating toys along. As the earth spins, the wind curves have washed up, and this makes the currents move in a years later. circle. This is called the Coriolis Effect.

o c . che e r o Deep W ater Currents are Water caused by the t r s s r u e p density in the water. Density is affected by the temperature of the water and the amount of salt in the water. Saltier water and colder water are denser and move to the bottom of the ocean. Warmer, less salty water stays on top.

OCEANS ALIVE

The Ocean in Motion - Waves The parts of a wave include the crest (the highest part), the trough (the lowest part) and the wavelength, which is the distance between two crests.

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Blow across your hot bowl of soup and what do you see? Tiny ripples appear – you are a wave-maker! Waves in the ocean are formed in the same way.

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Find out about the thr ee three types of br eaking wav es: breaking waves: Spilling breakers, plunging breakers and surging breakers. Which one does a surfer like the best?

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Wind blows across the water and tries to “pick it up” or move it, but gravity pulls the water back down. This upand-down battle between Re adyEdPubl i cat i ons wind and© gravity causes waves. The energy of the •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• wave is carried along with the water until it is finally released along the shoreline, where the wave “breaks”.

OCEANS ALIVE

The Ocean in Motion - Tsunamis A tsunami is caused by events that take place beneath the surface, such as an underwater earthquake or the eruption of an underwater volcano. When the sea floor In December 2004, is disturbed, a large Tsunamis can also a massive tsunami amount of water can in the Indian Ocean be shifted, just like be caused if a caused when you suddenly meteorite lands on destruction and bump a bowl of soup, the ocean floor, but devastation some of it might spill this is very rare. across the over the edge. coastlines of This underwater movement makes a wave, several countries in which is not very high but is very long. The the area. The wave spreads in all different directions and tragic event made © Read yE dPu bl i c at i o ns A travels quickly across great distances. headlines across tsunami can travel as fast as 1000 kph (as the world and as a •f orr evfast i ew ur po sesregular onl ywaves • as ap plane), whereas result, most people only travel at about 90 kph. have now heard of Before the tsunami reaches the shore, this rare natural there is a drawback drawback, which disaster. means that the water moves away from the shore very quickly. Next, a massive force of water approaches the shore. As it approaches land, it looks more like a rising flood than a very tall wave.

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DECEMBER 2004 TSUNAMI

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More About Tsunamis important for people to know to move to higher ground so that they don’t get swept along by this powerful wave.

r o e t s B r e oo was done So much damage p u k by the 2004 tsunami that S people from all over the world

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Although they sound very frightening, tsunamis are quite rare. There are only about six major tsunamis every 100 years. Throughout the world, warning systems are being developed to reduce the impact of tsunamis.

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wanted to help the countries that had been affected. Food and medical supplies were Because there is a lot more delivered and many people water than usual and because visited the region to see if they it is coming ae lota faster, aE could help. At large amount ©inR dydP ub l i ca i on s of powerful tsunami can flood money was donated to help •and f or r ev i ew pu r p osesrecover. onl y• beaches destroy buildings the countries along the shore. It is

OCEANS ALIVE

The Ocean in Motion - Tides

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Did you know that tides are caused by the moon? Just like earth, the moon has a force of gravity gravity. When the moon is directly over the ocean, its gravity pulls the water higher ©theRshore. eadyEdPubl i cat i ons up on to

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High Tide (a)

Low Tide (b)

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If you visit a beach at different times during the day, there will be some times where the water will be further up the beach. This is caused by changes in the tide tide.

o c . che e r Amazing o t r s supe r Fact: Moon

There are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours.

Earth

Low Tide (b)

High Tide (a)

The Bay of Fundy, off Nova Scotia in Canada, has a tide rise and fall of 16 metres – about as tall as a threestorey building! 19

OCEANS ALIVE

Chill Out on an Iceberg Old Ice: The ice inside an iceberg has often been frozen for up to 15,000 years, but once the ice is floating in the ocean, it can break down and melt pretty quickly. Sometimes the iceberg may last a few days or weeks. Larger icebergs may last a few years or more. Icebergs usually move at about 1 km per hour, which is slower than you would normally walk!

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Ice shelves

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Icebergs are large chunks of ice that float in the colder regions of the ocean. They are formed by glaciers or ice shelves shelves, which exist along the coastlines of countries such as Greenland in the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere.

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form ice. The layers then move slowly towards the ocean and when they break off into the water, they form an iceberg.

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Icebergs come in many different shapes and sizes – © ReadyEdP ub l i c at i ons some are quite flat, resembling floating ice rinks, •f orr evi ew pu r poses onl y• whilst others are tall and towering. Smaller icebergs Glacier owlers or ber gy are called gr growlers bergy When layers of snow build up on bits – yes, these are the real the land, they press together and names that scientists use! A lot of the land in Antarctica is covered by a thick sheet of ice. Around the edge, the ice is floating in the water instead of covering land. When these edges break off, an iceberg is formed.

Image courtesy of NOAA

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OCEANS ALIVE

The Tip of the Iceberg

Image courtesy of NOAA

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Icebergs are white because You can understand they contain thousands of tiny how icebergs float if you air bubbles, which reflect place some ice cubes in a white light. Icebergs that have glass of water. The ice less air bubbles take on a blue © R e a d y E d P ubl i cat i o ns cubes will not float on tinge. top of • thef water, but orr evi ew pur posesoLarge nl yicebergs • the very tops of them are very sturdy will poke out of the and are a water. danger to ships of all sizes. At CALVING night, it is hard When icebergs melt, to see the icy they make a fizzing masses floating sound. This is because in the water. In the trapped air 1912, a massive bubbles inside are cruise ship released. Louder named the Titanic cracking and booming noises are common as collided with an parts of the iceberg iceberg and sunk break off. This is to the ocean floor.

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known as calving.

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Have you ever heard the saying “just the tip of the iceberg”? This saying means that there is more that you can’t see than what you can see, which is true of a real iceberg. Most of it is below the surface of the water, up to seven-eighths of it, in fact!

OCEANS ALIVE

Pass the Salt layer of salt left on your boogie board after the water has dried.

The ocean’s salt has r o e t s B r been carried to the e oo p ocean k by rivers on the u S land. Rocks and soil

Since there is a lot of sea out there, it also means there is a lot of salt. In fact, some say that if all the salt in the ocean was removed and spread out over all the land in the entire world, it would be as high as a 40-storey building. Imagine how many hot potato chips you would need for that much salt!

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If you have ever been swimming at the beach, you might remember getting a mouthful of salty water, or your eyes stinging from the salt. Perhaps you have even noticed a

on the land naturally contain salt, and when it rains, the salt washes into rivers, and then into the sea.

You should not drink © ReadyEdP ub l i cat i on s seawater – it is too salty for •f orr evi ew pur po seso nl y the human body to •

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handle. Besides, it doesn’t taste very good!

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Salty fact: The saltier the water is, the easier it is to float in.

OCEANS ALIVE

Ocean Exploration

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as explorers traveled Thousands of further than they ever years ago, people had before. explored the ocean close to Meanwhile, other where they lived. explorers were They searched the thinking about how coastlines for they could travel areas that had a under water. The first lot of fish, so they submarine was built could be well fed. in 1620, but it looked quite different to the The earlier boats ones we know today. It could not travel very far was made waterproof by offshore, but by the a leather covering! year 900, the Vikings © R e a d y E d P u b l i c a t i o n s were able to travel In the 1900s, there quite • far f out tor sea or evi ew pur pos esmany onl y• were advances in longboats made made in the world of of wood. They used ocean exploration. many sets of oars and Cargo ships and oil tankers large sails to power them were common sights in ports on their journeys. all over the world. People found many ways to explore By the 1400s, sailing ships were better built, the ocean for fun. People took with four masts that holidays on cruise ships or learned how to sail in their held up large own small yachts. SCUBA sails. New parts diving became a popular of the world activity for people of all ages, were being and people explored deeper in discovered the ocean than they ever could have imagined. Who knows what the future holds?

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OCEANS ALIVE

Submarines are Cool Machines

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The submarine is the ultimate surprise machine. They can travel quietly under the ocean, sneaking up on enemy ships without being seen. They can also take explorers and tourists on a magical underwater ride.

Life in a submarine is like nothing else you could imagine. Just to give you an idea …

Submarines contain special tanks called ballast tanks tanks, which can be filled with water when z Some people live in the submarine has to sink, and submarines for weeks or even months at a time. During air when it has to come to the time underwater, they surface. © Re adyEdPubtheir l i ca t i ons never sea a sunrise or

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There are special systems on sunset, soo knowing if it is day • f o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s n l y • board a submarine that give the or night can be quite difficult. passengers fresh oxygen to z Submariners have an 18-hour breathe. There are also day, with six hours of work, six hours of play and six machines that turn seawater hours of sleep. In their free into fresh water for drinking, time, submariners play washing and cooking.

o c . che z Because they don’t often get e r ofood, submarine cooks fresh t r s super have to be creative to come games, watch movies or work on exercise equipment.

up with some good meals from tinned and frozen food.

z Submariners have to carry all

their rubbish on board until they reach a port to dispose of it.

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Submersibles Submersibles are specially designed for deep-sea exploration.

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In 1968, Alvin accidentally sank to the bottom of the ocean and remained there for ten months (luckily with no people inside it). The people who pulled Alvin back up to the surface found some sandwiches that were left on board. They were still edible! Because of the freezing temperatures and the lack of oxygen in the ocean depths, the sandwiches could not rot!

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was built in 1964. About the size of a small school bus, with robotic arms to collect samples from the sea floor, Alvin can dive as far as 4,500 metres deep. Alvin has completed thousands of dives in its lifetime. In 1986, Alvin explored the Titanic, 74 years after this famous ship had struck an iceberg and had sunk to the bottom of the freezing ocean.

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ALVIN

What kind of sandwich was in the submersible? Could it have been a sub?

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A new underwater vehicle, HOV (human occupied vehicle) will be able to go down as far as 6,500 metres! It should be ready to dive in about 2008. 25

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Super Scuba The depths of the ocean can be cold and dark, and people need to be able to breathe underwater, so special equipment is required.

(squashed) so it fits into a smaller container. A special device called a regulator makes the air come out in a safe way to breathe.

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r o e t s Bo r e p Because o sea-water can SCUBA equipment u k sting and blur the eyes, S (Self Contained

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divers wear goggles to Underwater protect their eyes and stop Breathing Apparatus) water was invented by a famous oceanographer (someone who coming in the nose. studies the ocean) named Jacques Fins or © Rea d y E d P ubl i cat i ons Cousteau. flippers are worn on the feet tor help the diver swim The air thatp •f orr e vi ew u p os es on l yalong, • divers breathe just like fins on a fish. is contained in a cylinder that Divers wear wetsuits. Wetsuits is carried on the back of a trap a layer of water inside the diver. There is enough air in material and the body then the cylinder to fill a phone heats this layer of water and booth, but it is compressed keeps the diver warm.

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Scuba News Follow our roving reporter to find out more about SCUBA:

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zTo look at or take photos of marine life zTo study species of marine animals zTo explore shipwrecks or underwater caves zTo look for things that have sunk to the ocean floor zJust to enjoy the feeling of being underwater

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r o e t s B r e What iso the deepest that a Why do people SCUBA dive? p o u k SCUBA diver can go? There are many reasons why people S SCUBA dive: In 2003, the world record for the

deepest dive was about 318 metres deep. When a diver goes that deep, it takes several hours to come back to the surface because the human body needs a long time to get used to the changes in pressure from the surrounding water.

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Divers have equipment that can tell them how much air they have left in their tanks.

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How do divers know how much air they have?

How did people dive before SCUBA equipment was invented? Many years ago, people did not know much about the dangers of diving. As far back as 3000 years, men would hold on to heavy rocks to help them sink to depths of about 30 metres. They would fill their ears and mouth with oil before they dove to prevent damage from the pressure. hese were very dangerous acts that often resulted in injury.

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Some divers carry magnetic boards with them that they can write on to communicate with other divers. Other divers use special sign language. Divers can also use special microphones that are built in to their breathing equipment.

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Tide Pools

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Read on to find out about some of the cool critters that make the tide pool their home. 28

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You can find many things in a tide pool, including small fish, crabs, sea anemones, sea star, sea urchins and barnacles.

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Life in a tide pool can be pretty tough. The animals that live there have to be used to getting covered by water when the tide is high, and exposed to air and sunlight during low tide.

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Have you ever gone to the beach and explored amongst the rocks to investigate the marine life? These tide pools form because during high tide the water comes in and fills the areas between the rocks.

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Tide Pools – On the Rocks

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Tide pools often have strong waves washing over them and some of the animals cope with this by finding a way to cling on tight.

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From the outside, barnacles look like crusty shells, but take a peek at the body of a barnacle that lies undercover.

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Bar nacles are small Barnacles crustaceans that use their antennae to attach themselves to rocks. They use their twelve legs to gather food that passes by. Barnacles can also live on Re ady EdPubl i cat i ons rocks in © deeper water, and some• attach themselves to p f o r r e v i e w ur posesonl y• boats, jetties or even other sea BODY OF A BARNACLE animals like turtles and feeding legs mouth whales.

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other creatures that live in tide pools. Many of these creatures also live in coral reefs and you will learn more about them in the Coral Reefs section of this book.

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Tide Pools – What a Star! On your tide pool exploration, you might come across a sea star.

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These attractive-looking creatures have five arms (sometimes more), but underneath are hundreds of tiny feet that help the sea star to move along the rocks. The sea star has an eyespot on each arm. They cannot see very well but can sense light and dark areas.

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The way a sea star eats is ©R eadyEdPubl i cat i ons fascinating. Two for One: they eatp au •f orWhen r evi ew r posesonl y• clam, they attach themselves If a sea star loses an arm, onto the clam’s shell and slowly it will grow a new arm. pull the shell apart with their Most arms that come off arms. They then push their will die, but some arms will stomach outside of their body survive and grow into a and squeeze it through the whole new sea star! small opening. Then, special juices come out of the sea star’s stomach, turning the clam into a liquid (like a clam soup), so that it is easier to eat.

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Tide Pool Safety Exploring a tide pool can be lots of fun, but there are some rules that you need to remember:

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r o e t s Bo r z Only explore the z Look, don’t e p ok tide pool in good touch. It is u hard S weather, and stay to know which

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well away from the animals will harm edges where the you, and when you waves are coming in. pick them up, you are disturbing their home. z Look out for slippery rocks that are covered in algae. z Wear old sneakers or good © Re adprotect yEdP ubl i cat i ons reef sandals that z Stay away from any people your The rocks andpu •feet. f or r e vi ew r p os es onl ythe •tide who are fishing off barnacles are sharp and pool area. You would not there are a few creatures want to their fishing hooks that like to nip and bite. to catch on you!

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Remarkable Reefs Amazing colour, incredible creatures, warm water – a coral reef is the place to see how plants and animals interact in a spectacular environment.

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includes famous reefs such eef in eat Bar rier R as the Gr Great Barrier Reef Queensland and Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

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r o e t s B r e oo of Coral reefs are found in the p A piece u k tr opical waters, tropical north and history: S south of the equator equator. This

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homes for many fish with a bunch of great hiding places and a plentiful supply of food.

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Coral reefs are very old ... many coral reefs that exist today started Coral reefs survive best in growing thousands ©isR ead yEdP ubl i cat i ons water that warm, shallow, even millions clear and full of sunlight. •f orr evi ew puand r p os esonl y• of years ago. The reefs make excellent

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Reef Life – Cool Coral

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Some corals are called soft corals and do not build a hard skeleton. They look like underwater plants.

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Although coral often looks like a plant, it is in fact made up of thousands of animals called polyps, living together in a clump or a colony. The polyp is soft with a body like a sac and a mouth surrounded by stinging tentacles.

their skeleton behind and new polyps attach themselves to the oldl skeleton. Polyps © ReadyEdP u b i c a t i o n s usually hide into their skeleton •f orr evi ew pur pos es onl y• during the day.

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Sponges, seaweed and the shells of old molluscs nestle amongst the coral, adding to the reef landscape. The coral polyp gets oxygen and nutrients from tiny plants called algae that live inside it. In exchange, the coral provides a safe place for the algae to live.

o c . che e r o t r s super The polyps make their own

skeleton out of calcium carbonate (limestone). The skeleton joins together with thousands of polyps living along each branch. When coral polyps die, they leave

Coral polyps also eat zooplankton zooplankton, which are microscopic animals that live in the water. 33

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Reef Life – Simply Super Like the coral polyps, many of the other reef animals are quite unlike anything we see on land. The coral’s relatives include jellyfish and anemones.

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r o e t s B r e oo anemones Sponges p u k S a mouth Sponges attach themselves Anemones have

because they have the ability to soak up and hold lots of water.

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Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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to the sea floor and pump at the centre of their water through their bodies, tentacles. The tentacles filtering in oxygen and have stinging cells, which nutrients and filtering out can help to capture the carbon dioxide and waste. prey. Although most reef animals know to stay away Sponges come in many © R e a d y E d P u b l i c a t i o n s from the anemone, there different shapes, like the are special ofv fish •f otypes rr e i ew pu r po sesbelow. onl y • tube sponge Some that make the anemone sponges are even collected their home. You can read by people and used as about these on Page 42. bathroom sponges,

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Reef Life – Weird Worms Think you know what a worm looks like? If you go diving in a coral reef, you might be surprised to find some worms that look nothing like the ones you see in your vegetable garden at home!

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r o e t s Bo r e ok Flat wor ms like p worms this one u are found S in reefs around

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Believe it or not, this is also a worm! It is called a feather duster and it has tubes with many feathery tentacles that extend out. They look a bit like a small broom that is used to collect dust. The tentacles collect food as it drifts past and they also help the worm to breathe underwater.

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the world. They come in many bright colors and make a sticky mucus which tastes awful to predators that try to eat the worm. Their flat shape Rtoehide ady EdPubl i cat i ons allows © them in the tightest nooks and •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• crannies of the reef.

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Reef Life – Marvellous Molluscs

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Have you ever walked along the beach and collected shells? Did you know that the shells you find were all once a home for a sea creature? Most marine animals that live in shells are known as molluscs.

Molluscs do not have a skeleton of their own, so they need the shell for protection. There are two types of molluscs – univalves and bivalves.

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Uni = one Bi = two

Univalves have one part to their shell. The shell is usually coiled around a pointed end. Examples of univalves include conches and whelks whelks. They make their shells using a special material called a mantle mantle. They live in their shells all the time and when they die or are eaten by a predator, the shell is left empty and often washes up on the beach.

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Reef Life – Home Sweet Shell Did You Know?

Molluscs live on land as well. r o e t s B r e The besto known one is the p oksnail. common garden u S SCALLOP

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Bivalves live in two shells that are held together with a hinge. The animals inside have gills for breathing, a mouth for feeding and a foot for moving around. Bivalves include clams, mussels, oysters and scallops.

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Molluscs are not the only animals mit crabs to make use of shells. Her Hermit like to find the shells of molluscs that have died, or worse still, they steal the shell right off the mollusc and make it into their own home. How cheeky is that?

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Criminal Crabs

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MUSSEL

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Cephalopods are Another adaptation intelligent Adaptation: that many creatures. They cephalopods have A change in an animal’s have amazing is the ability to body or behaviour that adaptations like helps it to survive. squirt a cloud of the ability© to Re adyEdPubl i c at i on s dark ink into change colour to the water •f orenemies, r evi ew pur pos es onl y• hide from their to confuse known as camouflage camouflage. predators They do this by using special when they cells in their skin called attack. chr omatophor es chromatophor omatophores es. Cephalopods move by sucking water into their body and then pushing it out again (imagine blowing a balloon up and then letting it go). As the water is pushed out, the creature moves in the opposite direction. This is called jet pr opulsion propulsion opulsion.

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The octopus, the squid, the nautilus (that lives in a shell like the one in the picture) and the cuttlefish are all in a group of molluscs called the cephalopods. You might notice that some of these do not have a shell on the outside.

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Reef Life – More Molluscs

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Reef Life – What a Sucker! Octopuses have eight arms, called tentacles tentacles. The tentacles grow out from the head and in the centre is a mouth with a sharp beak and a sharp tongue called a radula radula. The rest of the body, called the mantle mantle, contains other organs including the digestive system and three hearts. Yes, three!

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blue-ringed octopus does the opposite and shows bright blue rings on its skin to warn predators away. Being stung by a blueringed octopus is not fun – it paralyses a person, meaning that they cannot move or even breathe. Several people have been given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and have recovered from a bite once the poison has worn Instead using colour to dP ©of R ea dyE ub l i ca t i o nsoff. hide from enemies, the

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1. The giant octopus can weigh more than 100kg!

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“Octo” means eight, so here are EIGHT COOL FACTS about octopuses:

6. They make a home called a den out of rocks.

o c . 3. If an c octopus loses e hit can r o t a tentacle,e r s s r u e p grow another one.

2. Octopus blood is blue.

4. They hunt mostly at night. 5. They cannot hear, but they have excellent eyesight.

7. They have suction caps on their tentacles to help them grab on to their prey when they catch it, or to grasp rocks as they creep along the ocean floor. 8. Octopus mothers lay about 100, 000 eggs! 39

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Reef Life – Crustacean Celebration QUESTION:

Why didn’t the crab share?

These creatures can walk along rocks, burrow into the sand and swim in the water.

Crustaceans grow by r o e t s Bo r moulting moulting. This means that e p ohard they shed their shell and u k Because it S grow a new one. When they was shellfish!

shed their shell, they are not as safe from predators. Luckily, if a crustacean loses a leg it can be re-grown.

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ANSWER:

The word shellfish is often used to describe animals such as crayfish, crabs, shrimp and prawns, because they have a Crayfish Confusion ©R ead yEdPubl i cat i ons shell on their outside. The Many people are not sure what the proper name for these •f o rr evi ew pu r pos son l y• difference ise between a lobster and ustacean crustacean ustacean. animals is cr

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a crayfish. They are both crustaceans and both have a hard shell called an exoskeleton exoskeleton. In Australia, the creatures without ayfish or claws are called cr crayfish Western Rock Lobster Lobster. If they have large claws at the front they is known as True Lobsters Lobsters.

o c . cten Crustaceans have legs, e hwhich r o t feelers and antennae,e r s super they use for sensing their food. Many crustaceans also have powerful claws that they use to catch and eat their prey.

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Reef Life – Predators Beware

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special features that There are many fish protect them from that can be found predators. living in a reef environment. The lionfish Fish are animals might look that live in the spectacular, but it is water, have a one to look out for. backbone and The venomous spines fan breathe though gills (special out and can puncture the skin organs that allow and produce a painful wound. it to breathe This porcupine fish has underwater). excellent defence against Because predators – it fills its body with ©R e a d y E d P ubl i c t i on there are so water so ita swells ups like a many• fish living in a reef, balloon. With itsn large inflated f o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o l y • many of them have adapted body and spiny skin, it makes to their environment with for an impossible meal!

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You might recognise this familiar-looking creature, but do you know about the special poison-fighting abilities of the clownfish?

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S This interesting fish lives This is called symbiosis symbiosis, where

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amongst the stinging both the clownfish and the tentacles of the anemone anemone. anemone benefit. How? Scientists think it makes a Clownfish benefits: slimy substance (a mucus), Because other fish avoid the which it coats itself in to poisonous anemone, the clownfish provide protection from the © ReadyEdisP ub l i c at i on safe from predators. Its also anemone’s poison. It can dart snacks ons the anemone’s leftovers. or r ev ew pu r po es onl y • out to • eatf its lunch of i small crustaceans and plankton and Anemone benefits: The clownfish helps to clean the then back in to hide. tentacles of the anemone and also might prevent the anemone from being attacked by other fish. The clownfish might also bring back food for the anemone.

o c . che e r o t r s supWhat er did the

clownfish say in his comedy routine?

With friends like these, who needs anemones!

Reef Fish – The Class Clown

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By now, you may have realised that coral reefs are full of amazing colour. But why are reef fish so bright?

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are or whether they are male or female. This helps them to find the right mate.

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r o e t s Bo r e p o Sometimes, the colours on u k This butterfly fish has a spot S fish help to show how old they on its tail to confuse predators

Reef Fish – Hide and Seek

about which way it is facing. The black spot looks like an eye, and by the time a predator can work out which end is which, the fish can escape.

Other fish use their patterns to hide amongst the colourful coral. © Re adyEdPubl i cat i ons

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The flat body of the butterfly fish helps it to slip in between the coral.

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A slim-line body: •f or r evi ew pur posesonl y•

in their body called a swim bladder. This prevents them from sinking when they stop swimming.

. t o Dideyou c . che know? e r o t r s Fish have a sac of air s uper

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Threats to Coral Reefs Now you have learned about the wonder of coral reefs, you might find it sad that many reefs around the world are at risk. Here are some of the things that threaten the future of reefs, and ways that you can help.

r o e t s B r e oexploring reef areas, look When diving oro Disturbs the natural p u habitat of the marine but don’t touch. k S life.

CORAL REEF THREAT WHY IS IT A THREAT?

z SCUBA divers

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boat anchors that are dragged through shallow waters

The anchors tear up the reef.

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touching and moving too much of the marine life

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Go carefully through shallow areas and try to anchor in areas of sand rather than areas of reef.

Take care at home when using garden Upsets the quality of © R e a d y E d P u bl i cat i ons pesticides and fertilizers. Wash the car on the lawn so water that marine life fertilizers making detergent does gon into the road depends onw to survive. •through f orr e vi e pur p ose snoto l y •drain. their way

z Pollution –

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z Rubbish collecting

in coral reef areas and fishing gear left behind

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z Coral Bleaching – caused by increased temperatures in reef waters from global warming

Litter can be swallowed by marine animals and damage their digestive systems. Plastic litter and fishing materials can wrap around the bodies of fish and animals and stop them from moving freely. Results in a loss of the algae that help to colour and look after the coral. The coral eventually dies.

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Keep chemicals and rubbish away from drains and gutters. Join school projects by monitoring water at local reefs.

waterways to reef environments

Always collect all rubbish and fishing gear when visiting or boating in reef areas. Report litter seen to local authorities. Also take care with litter at home as this can sometimes be blown towards the sea, like plastic bags. Help clean up beach areas on “Clean up Australia Day”.

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People who live near coral reefs can observe reef areas and watch out for signs of bleaching and report it to environmental groups.

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The World of Whales Q: Where do you weigh a whale?

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Image courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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A: At a whale weigh station. Dolphins, whales and seals are three of the best-known mammals of the sea. Mammals need to breathe oxygen into their lungs and they feed their young with milk. Let’s find out more Do whales about the wonderful whale. really sing? Whales come to the surface regularly, where they breathe Some whales make sounds such though a© hole in thed top of asb groans, chirps, and trills in R e a y E d P u l i c a t i o n s repeating patterns that make their head called a blowhole blowhole. up ao beautiful song. Scientists Because they toi decide •f orneed r ev e w pur p s e s o n l y• believe that the songs are when to breathe, whales can’t either to attract females or go to sleep like we do. The warn off other males. The males solution? Whales send half of sing together and the songs their brain to sleep while the change over time, but they all change together! other half stays awake! The song of the blue whale is Some whales use an amazing thousands of times louder than system called echolocation to a jumbo jet taking off. find out about the world around them. They make clicking sounds that travel throughout the water and bounce off objects in the area and return information to the whale about the size, shape and location of objects and other creatures ahead.

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Whale Types The most common type of whales seen in Australia include: Southern Right Whales

Male whales are called bulls, females are called cows and young whales are called calves.

Humpback Whales

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These whales are mostly black with large white bumps on their head, no dorsal fin and Humpback Whale large, rounded flippers.

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Moo Whale!

and filter a meal of krill and plankton out of the water.

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sImage courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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These whales have a dorsal fin that looks like a hump on their Orca back. They ©have ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons long flippers and The orca is also known •f o rofr evi ew pur pthe os eswhale onl y •are often have lots killer as whale. They barnacles on their body. black and white and have a tall dorsal fin. The orca is a Southern right toothed whale. It whales and humpback uses its teeth to whales use baleen to catch hunt fish for their food. Baleen are like food. rows of whiskers that come Killer Whale down from the upper mouth

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Whale Watch Watch out

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Whale watching is popular Big Blue in many parts of The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have Australia and all over lived on earth. It can grow the world. People on up to 33 metres in length shore or on boats and can weigh as much as gather to see the whales 50 elephants! Its heart is migrating. There are as big as a small car! strict rules when whale Blue Whale watching so that people do not get too close and frighten the whale.

Sperm Whale

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Whales will migrate from the cold waters of Antarctica towards Australia during the winter months. They use the warmer Australian waters to breed so lucky whale watchers may also see a calf with its mother.

of water from its blowhole as it breathes out. In fact, this “water” is actually vaporised air, like when you breathe out a “cloud” on a very cold day.

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Delightful Dolphins

r o e t s Bodolphinr e p ok safe u S Dolphins like to eat tuna fish,

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Dolphins are closely related to the whale and share many characteristics. Just like whales, dolphins breathe though a blowhole and they use echolocation to find out about the waters around them. They have up to 250 teeth in their long set of jaws.

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so they follow them around. Then, the dolphins get caught up in the huge nets used to Dolphins can be found in the catch tuna. In the 1980s, open seas, but they like to laws were made to change the hang out close to shore and way that fishing was done so that fewer dolphins were can often© be R seen from the ea dy EdPu bl i cat i ons accidentally caught. Check beach. •f orr evi ew pur p os es ontol y your tins of tuna see• if These social animals like to they are described as hang out in groups called “dolphin-safe”. pods pods. They are well known for their leaping and spinning antics in the water and also their friendliness towards humans. Because of these two facts, many dolphins are used to perform tricks for audiences in theme parks.

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Streamlined Seals large groups. You can often see them lazing around in the sun, lying on flat rocks or sandy beaches near the water. Seals are expert divers. They dive deep to find food like fish, crustaceans and squid. Seals use their whiskers to feel about for the movement of fish in dark, murky waters.

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Seals that swim around the southern lands include the Australian sea lion, the Australian fur seal and the New Zealand fur seal. These seals all have small ears, whereas the other types of seal do not have ears at all. The earless seals are usually found in colder waters, like Antarctica.

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Fur seals have two layers of Seals are sleek animals with fur. This keeps them nice and flippers at the front and a tail warm in the water, but ©R ea dy EdP ubl i cat i ons at the back. Fur seals and sometimes they get too warm sea lions can use their tail and they need to off. •f or r e vi e wtopur po se so ncool l y• push them up so that they can They do this by floating on “walk” on land. Their bodies their back and sticking one eamlined are str streamlined eamlined, which means flipper out of the water. As the that they are wellwater evaporates from shaped for the flipper, it cools swimming. down, which in turn cools Seals like to the rest of hang around in the body down.

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The Truth About Sharks Sharks have no bones in their body, only cartilage, which is softer than bone. They have several rows of sharp teeth and when a tooth falls out or wears down, there is always a handy replacement. Sharks have tiny scales called denticles, which make their skin feel rough like sandpaper.

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Sharks are supreme hunting machines, using their skills to track down and catch a wide variety of sea animals. This may sound like they are a threat to other creatures, but in fact, they help to keep other animals healthy. Sharks prey on the weaker fish, which means the strong ones survive and pass their strength on to the next generation.

Sharks often make the news as dangerous predators that hunt down humans. In fact, most shark attacks occur as a result of mistaken identity – the sharks believe that people in wetsuits are seals, which sharks do like to eat.

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Sharks can sense electrical changes in the sea that •f o rr ev i eare w pur posesonl y• made by the muscles of other animals. They are very quick to respond to the slightest movement. They have an amazing Sharks are usually much more sense of smell and can sniff out frightened of humans than we are prey that is hundreds of metres of them, however it is still wise to pay close attention to shark warnings away. They can also sense the when swimming at the beach. sound of animals moving in the water. No wonder they are such clever hunters!

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The first sharks appeared on earth more than 350 million years ago! 50

Did you know:

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Make Way for the Ray Rays are a close relative of the shark, but they are easily recognised by their flat bodies and fins that spread out like wings on either side of their body.

and change colour to camouflage themselves so they are hidden from predators and prey.

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their head and mouth and gills underneath.

threatened.

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r o e t s r SomeB rays a spine on e ohave p o their tail, which can inject a u k S on the top of painful sting if the ray is They have eyes

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Manta rays are the largest ray. They can be more than Rays swim by waving their six metres wide – that’s about pectoral (side) fins up and the size of a small backyard down, which makes it appear swimming pool! as if they© areR flying through ead yEdP ubl i ca t i ons the water. Manta rays can be seen •f orr evi ew pur pose sofo nl y•This leaping out the water. Most rays live near the may be a way of escaping a seabed, where they hunt for predator or it might be a way molluscs and crustaceans to of “showing off” to other rays. dine on. Rays can bury Others believe it is the ray’s themselves under the sand way of cleaning its body.

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Turtle Tales

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Turtles are one of the many reptiles that can be found in the ocean. They can be found swimming in warmer regions of the world. There are seven species of sea turtles and they are all endangered, which means they are protected so that they do not become extinct.

Other times they are caught accidentally when people are fishing for other seafood.

Plastic bags that are r o e t s Bo r discarded into the sea are e p ok for turtles. another big danger u S They mistake the floating bag

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for a jellyfish and eat it. When this happens, they can Turtles spend a choke on the bag, or it lot of time stays in their underwater, digestive system but like ocean and makes them © Rea dyEdPubl i ca t i oSo, ns mammals, © Corel sick. if you they need to toy keep •f orr evi ew pur poseswant onl • surface frequently to these beautiful breathe. Turtles also spend animals safe, quite a bit of time on land, make sure you especially when they come up throw plastic bags in the bin onto the beach to lay their whenever you visit the beach. eggs. Turtles have Human use of the beaches an incredible can be a problem for turtles sense of that return to lay eggs. People direction. In can accidentally disturb the fact, many area where the eggs have turtles return been laid. There are several to exactly the same place that other threats to turtles, they were born, up to 30 years including many countries later, to lay their own eggs. catching turtles for food.

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Food Chains Food chains show how plants and animals are interconnected by providing food and energy for each other.

r o e t s Bo r e Phytoplankton: p Of course,o food chains are microscopic u k Splants that float not really that simple.

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Let’s look at an ocean food chain from Antarctica as an example:

Most animals eat more than one type of food. For EATEN BY example, krill is eaten by Krill: many sea animals, tiny, shrimpincluding fish, penguins, like animals seals and even some that feed on © ReadyEdPu bl i cOrcas at i o ns whales. eat seals phytoplankton EATEN BY buto they also squid. •f orr evi ew pur p ses oeat nl y •

Squid:

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large marine mammals that snack on squid

EATEN BY

Orca: black and white whales that make a meal out of seals

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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EATEN BY

medium-sized molluscs that like to eat krill

The result is a more complex system of chains called a food web web.

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Mysteries of the Twilight Zone They also have large stomachs so that they can stock up on food when it becomes available.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Viperfish also have S

photophores along the body that create light to attract mates, but they can shut this light off to hide from predators.

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If you were to explore the ocean beyond 100 metres down, you would notice that it started to become quite dark and cold. The area between 180 and 914 metres deep is called the twilight zone. The creatures in this area have special adaptations that help them to survive in the dark.

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fish has a long, The viper viperfish snake-like body and a long fin with a lure at the end of it to attract prey. A lure? The fin is e, tipped with a photophor photophore which is a special group of cells that glow in the dark! Smaller fish are attracted to this light and the viperfish then opens its massive jaws and swallows them up.

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Their eyes are bigger than many other fish so that they can see more in the dim light. 54

strange and wonderful creatures that live in the twilight zone. See what you n can find out about the lanter lantern fish fish, the rattalk fish fish, the hatchet fish and the mid-water jellyfish jellyfish.

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Deep, Dark and Dangerous sea cucumbers

r o e t Sea B cucumbers live in s r e ooenvironments many ocean p u k from coral reefs to the S deepest depths of the

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ocean. A sea cucumber can turn its insides out to get rid of a predator and then grow a whole new set of internal organs. The sea cucumber is one © eadyEdPu bl i capictured t i ons angler fish R found at shallower depths •f orr evi ew pur p estooget nl y• – ito iss hard photos from very deep in the The Angler Fish ocean. Female angler fish are much larger than the males. Females have a long piece of skin that sticks out over its head like a fishing pole. This attracts the prey. They hide in the bottom of the ocean and wait until prey passes by, then they quickly catch them. The male then bites into the female and sucks the nutrients out of her bloodstream. In fact, the male cannot survive on its own!

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Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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Imagine diving down into the ocean as far as one whole kilometre! If you did, you would be in complete darkness, surrounded by the midnight zone. It is so dark in this zone that no plants can survive, however there are chemicals that come from the earth beneath the ocean, and these chemicals provide the energy for the marine life in this zone.

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The Giant Squid

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Here are some of the things that scientists have discovered:

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Many years ago, sailors used to tell tales of a giant squid that attacked boats at sea. Many believed that this was just a myth, but one day, scientists discovered that the giant squid actually does exist (although it is unlikely that it attacks boats). Giant squid live in water so deep that it is difficult to find them alive. Over the years a number of giant squids have washed up dead on shore, which has allowed scientists to study them.

zThe giant squid can reach up to 13 metres in length

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zThey prefer cold water environments zSperm whales like to eat giant squids and scientists have found massive sucker marks on the bodies of whales from the underwater battles between these two ocean giants

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zThe suction cups on their tentacles have sharp “teeth” on them to help attach to their prey 56

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Under the Microscope Did you know that one of the most important life forms in the ocean needs to be studied with a microscope? Read on to find out all about plankton, the building block of ocean life.

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Phytoplankton

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Plankton is made up of tiny animals and plants floating in the water.

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Phytoplankton is the plant part. It is a type of algae that Plankton doesn’t just feed live near the surface of the small sea creatures. In fact, it water where they can collect is a main source of food for sunlight © for photosynthesis ReadyEdPu bl i c at i owhales. ns The many types of (making energy and oxygen whales suck ino water and• strain •f o rr evi ew pur pos es nl y for marine animals). the plankton from the water so Zooplankton it can eat all the nutrients. Zooplankton is the mass of tiny sea animals such as krill (small crustaceans), fish eggs and larvae (baby fish).

and rely on the movement of the ocean water (the currents) to get around.

o c . Zooplankton c e her r o animals are not t s s r u e p strong swimmers

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Plant Life in the Sea There are many types of plant in the ocean, including seaweed seaweed, rockweed ockweed, sar gassum and seagrass sargassum seagrass.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u You can find seaweed growing S underwater, floating on top of the water, growing off jetties and piers and washed up on shore.

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Seaweed is a type of large algae and comes in brown, red and green.

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Seaweed have parts similar to leaves and this is where Seaweeds make their they collect light. own food from They also have little sunlight and that’s filled sacs ReadyEdPubl i cair at i on scalled why they © are never floats that help the too far• from the f orr evi ew pur posesplant onl ystay • to sur face. They do not upright towards the have roots, stems or flowers like the surface where it can plants that you find on land. collect the most sunlight. There are little anchors called holdfasts – they might look a lot like roots, but they do not feed the plant with water and nutrients. Instead, they are used to attach the seaweed to the ocean floor.

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Explore the Kelp Forests Kelp for ests are like huge forests underwater rainforests that grow in the ocean around Tasmania and off other coasts like California in America.

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One interesting creature you might see int ao kelp forest is © Re adyEdPu bl i ca i ns float agon - a the leafy sea dr dragon •f orr e vi ew pur posesonl y• holdfast seahorse with extensions that look like seaweed. This provides excellent camouflage from They are long, long strips of sea plant that reach more than predators as it makes its 20 metres from the surface to home amongst the kelp. the sea floor. The leaves, onds called fr fronds onds, can grow as fast as 30 centimetres a day! Sea creatures such as seahorses, sea snails, octopus and massive king crabs live amongst the kelp. Part of the kelp – called algin – is used in foods such as ice cream and jelly to make them thicker.

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Birds of the Sea Sea birds are pretty interesting animals. They have webs on their feet but no spiders. They go fishing every day but do not own a fishing rod. And they can swim without really getting wet. How? The answer is in their adaptations adaptations.

The pelican can catch fish in its mouth like a fishing net.

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their toes) which help them swim in the water by making a flat paddle;

· z Special feathers containing oil that make the bird more waterproof, so that they are not drenched in the cold ocean water;

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u (a skin that stretches between · z Webbed feet S

· z Specially shaped beaks that help them catch fish for food.

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Some pelican species have the longest beak of any bird in the world!

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· z The ability to dive underwater to reach food;

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Sea Bird Adaptations Let’s find out more about the special adaptations of some sea birds.

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Her ons have long, thin Herons legs so that they can walk though deep water. These birds can stand very still for long d is a sneaky one. It will The frigate bir bird periods of time while bother other birds so much that they they wait for fish to vomit up their food, which the frigate bird then catches before it lands! The come along. Then they male frigate bird has a bright red patch strike with their sharp, under its chin that it can inflate to pointed beak, and attract females. dinner © is served! ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons

o c Many sea birds. have a che e r special filter called a o t r s super salt gland. This is

located in the nose area, above the bird’s eyes. When the bird swallows sea water, this gland gets rid of the salt so it does not get sick.

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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Fun in the Sun The beach can be a really enjoyable place to visit, but there are a few things to keep in mind so that you stay safe and well.

A rip is a section of water that flows strongly out to sea. If you swim into a rip current, you can get pulled away from the shore.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok Many beaches are looked u Sdsds. These after by lifeguar lifeguards

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important people place flags up to show where you can There are lots of other things that swim. If you swim between the you can do to make sure your visit to flags, you will be able to avoid the beach is a safe and enjoyable one: dangerous patches of water. You will also be swimming in z Wear a hat, t-shirt and sunscreen, Re ad yEdPeven ub l i c i ons when ita ist cloudy; the areas© where the lifeguards are watching. zr Take some water with you •f orr evi ew pu po se so nl yto •drink; Lifeguards will also help you if z Watch out for broken glass or other sharp litter; you get into trouble. A lifeguard can help if you: z Do not swim straight after a meal. z Get tired when swimming z Are bitten by a jellyfish z Become caught in a rip z Injure yourself on the beach

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Oceans Online z What’s It Like Where You Live? mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/oceans

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k z Oceans Alive S z Oceans @ Enchanted Learning

www.abc.net.au/oceans/alive.htm www.mos.org/oceans

z Ocean Planet

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www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/ocean

seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html

school.discovery.com/schooladventures •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• planetocean/

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library.thinkquest.org/18828

z The Virtual Ocean

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. te o z Ocean World c . che e r oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/iceberg o t r s super

www.euronet.nl/users/janpar/virtual/ocean.html

z Ocean Quest

pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/quest/quest.htm

z Ocean Channel www.ocean.com 63

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