Portal:Marine life

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A male whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium.

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The Marine Life Portal

Killer whales (orcas) are highly visible marine apex predators that hunt many large species. However, most marine activity takes place among microscopic organisms that cannot be seen individually with the naked eye, such as marine bacteria and phytoplankton.

Marine life, which is also known as sea life or ocean life, refers to all the marine organisms that live in salt water habitats, or ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitats, either the sea water of marginal seas and oceans, or the brackish water of coastal wetlands, lagoons, estuaries and inland seas. As of 2023, more than 242,000 marine species have been documented, and perhaps two million marine species are yet to be documented. On average, researches describe about 2,300 new marine species each year. The study of marine life spans into multiple fields, which is primarily marine biology, as well as biological oceanography.

Today, marine species range in size from the microscopic phytoplankton, which can be as small as 0.02–micrometers; to huge cetaceans like the blue whale, which can reach 33 m (108 ft) in length. Marine microorganisms have been variously estimated as constituting about 70% or about 90% of the total marine biomass. Marine primary producers, mainly cyanobacteria and chloroplastic algae, produce oxygen and sequester carbon via photosynthesis, which generate enormous biomass and significantly influence the atmospheric chemistry. Migratory species, such as oceanodromous and anadromous fish, also create biomass and biological energy transfer between different regions of Earth, with many serving as keystone species of various ecosystems. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet, and in part, shape and protect shorelines, and some marine organisms (e.g. corals) even help create new land via accumulated reef-building. (Full article...)


Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather than on taxonomy. (Full article...)

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The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, named for the unusual and distinctive form of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a cephalofoil (a T-shape or "hammer"). The shark's eyes are placed one on each end of this T-shaped structure, with their small mouths directly centered and underneath. Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus Sphyrna, while the winghead shark is placed in its own genus, Eusphyra. Many different—but not necessarily mutually exclusive—functions have been postulated for the cephalofoil, including sensory reception, manoeuvering, and prey manipulation. The cephalofoil gives the shark superior binocular vision and depth perception, as well as increased surface area for electroreceptors.

Hammerheads are found worldwide, preferring life in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. Unlike most sharks, some hammerhead species will congregate and swim in large schools during the day, becoming solitary hunters at night. (Full article...)

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  • ... Until the late 16th century sharks were usually referred to in the English language as sea-dogs. The name "Shark" first came into use around the late 1560s to refer to the large sharks of the Caribbean Sea.
  • ... that the Southern Right Whale got its name because it was the ‘right’ whale to kill? Because they swim slowly, close to the shore and float when killed, the whalers thought them the right whales to kill!
  • ... If sharks don’t keep on swimming they sink to the seabed.
  • ... both whales and dolphins carry ‘whale lice’ — small crustaceans that inhabit folds in the skin of whales and dolphins, feeding off the loose skin.
  • ... The insides of the sharks intestines are spiral shaped. Because of this, some sharks have spiral-shaped droppings.
  • ... the Sperm Whale, at 18 metres long, is the largest toothed animal to have ever lived.
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The giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus), also known as the brindle bass and as the Queensland grouper in Australia, is the largest bony fish found in coral reefs, and the aquatic emblem of Queensland, Australia. It is found throughout the Indo-Pacific region, with the exception of the Persian Gulf. The species can grow as large as 2.7 meters (9 ft) long, weighing up to 400 kg (880 lb). They are fairly common in shallow waters and feed on a variety of marine life, including small sharks and juvenile sea turtles.

Photo taken at the Georgia Aquarium on January 23rd by Diliff with a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS.

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