Underwater Ecosystems and their Importance

By Alex Asher


Most fish have a special part inside their bodies called a swim bladder. Air inside the swim bladder helps the fish float through the water. The fish can adjust how much air is in its swim bladder. If it wants to swim deeper, it lets some air out and if it wants to swim up towards the surface, it will let more air into its swim bladder.

Many marine mammals live in very cold water. They have blubber to insulate their bodies and keep them warm in the cold ocean waters. Blubber is a really thick layer of fat between the animal's skin and inside organs. It is very effective at keeping an animal warm. The gray whale's layer of blubber is about 10 inches thick!

Some creatures that live in the ocean use a special chemical reaction inside their bodies to create a glowing light. The light is called bioluminescence and happens when certain chemicals mix together, along with some oxygen from the water, in a particular part of the animal's body.

Most kinds of whales live in groups called pods. The pods are kind of like families. The older whales take care of the younger whales, which are called calves. Whales stay together in their pods for most of their life. Most kinds of whales live somewhere in the middle of the ocean so that they can quickly get to the surface since they need to go up for air a lot.

Marine mammals need to come to the water surface to breathe, which is why the deep-diving whales have blowholes on top of their heads, so they can surface to breathe while keeping most of their body underwater. Whales can stay underwater without breathing for an hour or more because they make very efficient use of their lungs, exchanging up to 90% of their lung volume with each breath, and also store unusually high amounts of oxygen in their blood and muscles when diving.




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