The Deep Ocean

The Habitat
A habitat is the place where an organism lives. It is characterised by physical conditions and the types of species which occupy that area.

Habitat Deep Sea

The deep sea is located beyond the continental shelve , were shallow water suddenly drops to deep levels The habitat is very unique and is home to so highly adaptive animals. Some of the key features of the environment are: Low light intensity Low oxygen levels No primary producers I.e. Plants. High pressures.

Unique Feature
Abiotic
Low light intensity Very low levels of light reach the deep parts of the ocean As photosynthesis is absent there is low levels of oxygen as all the oxygen comes from the ocean surface. Due to the volume of water above the deep sea there is a large pressure experience by the animals which inhabit the deep sea There is a lack of primary producers as no light being present. So animals rely on dead material and faeces settling down from the top.

Biotic

Due to light being absent photosynthesis cant occur so no plants exist in these parts of the ocean As it is very inhospitable environment few animals live in the deep ocean, and low oxygen factors mean that only a few animals can be supported.

Adaptations

Nemertean Worms Feeding adaptions

Animals at the bottom of the ocean struggle to find food there are no plants which act as primary producers. Instead plants rely on dead animals and faeces settling from the top. These are therefore likened to primary producers. When an dead animal such as a seal pup settles to the flood of the sea scavengers gather in swarms. This is because they only encounter food like this once every ten years. They are able to survive with low levels of nutrients because they have a low metabolic rate. This worm is also adapted to survive to low food supplies as it is carnivorous and able to eat anything. It is able to eat tough skin as it has a harp like snout which allows him to puncture the skin.

Sperm Whale - Respiration

In terms of respiring underwater the whale is the most adapted. Although it doesn'tt take in air underwater it is adapted, so that it can hold its breath for over an hour. The whale gets all its air at the surface. It spends about ten minutes maximizing its oxygen capacity before it dives back down to the deep sea ocean to hunt for food. The lungs are larger contain more alveoli than most mammals. This means that it can transfer oxygen more efficiently than others. It stores this oxygen in the muscles in myoglobin. This has a high affinity for oxygen, which means that it is only released at very low pressures this ensures only the necessary amount of oxygen is used up.

Pressure

Light