Phytoplankton

Hello, my name is Gaeton, I am currently a JR at Norwich Univ. my major is SWAP and i am enrolled in GL111. I will be talking about Phytoplankton located in the Kelp Forests. The Phytoplankton I will be talking about is the kelp itself. Kelp are the largest form of algae. Kelps have more tissue structure than most algae but are much simpler. The kelps have strong stipes and effective holdfasts that allow them to colonize rocky pints in fast currents or heavy surf. Some kelps grow with holdfasts well below the depth of wave action and float their blades at the surface supported by gas filled floats. There are two main types of kelp; Bull kelp (Nereocystis) found along the Alaskan, British Columbian, and Washington coasts, Great kelp (Macrocystis) is found along California.

-This info was found in An Introduction to the World's Oceans on page 433.

-If you want to check out a website with more info, feel free to check out the NOAA website at http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/about/ecosystems/welcome.html

- Hopefully I will have a new update with new info after some more research. Hope this helps you out. Have a good one.

Zooplankton

Hello! My name is Nate and I am a Junior/Political Science Major. I will be reporting on the Zooplankton section of this blog. Personally, I found the Ctenophore to be extremely interesting. These tiny carnivorous hermaphrodites are everywhere in the ocean. They are most abundant in coastal regions and can live up to 4 KM below the surface. The contributions to their ecosystems are immeasurable.

Basic Information
Classification
-Phylum Ctenophora
Description Body Type
-Mass of Jelly
-Single Layer of Cells
-Small Cilia used for swimming
Size
2mm-1.5m
Area in which it lives
Worldwide Marine Waters
Diet
Microscopic larvae and Small crustaceans
Relatives
Cnidarians

I'm doing the kelp fish.

This fish is a brown fish and lives to be about 20 years old at the most. It stays at about 15 to 80 feet below the surface of the water. and the females and males grow at about the same size and rate except the females grow a little faster. They get to about 17 inches long.

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/nearshorefinfish/kelprockfish.asp

The kelp forest is seen in colder nutrient rich waters and range from both poles.

http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/kelpforest.html

The Bat Star

The bat star is found on rocks, the sandy beach floor and among surf grass in shallow waters of the Pacific coast from Alaska to Southern California and Northern Mexico. This sea star is easily distinguished by the webbing between its relatively short arms. It can reach a diameter of 8 inches and exhibit a wide range of colors: reddish-orange, brown, green, purple and pink.

I found this fact at:

www.georgiaaquarium.org/animalguide/coldwaterquest/batstar

My name is Jenn MacNeill. I am a CJ major at Norwich. I am a sophomore in the Corps of Cadets.

Norwich GL111 Term Project Introductions

As part of our Introduction to Oceanography class this Spring 2011 semester at Norwich University, our group will be researching and presenting on plants and animals that live in an ecosystem called a 'Kelp Forest'.

We have four group members:
Jenn, Nate, McVane and Ryan

Each member of our group will be reporting on a different marine organism that lives in the kelp forest ecosystem. One will be a zooplankton, one a phytoplankton, one a marine invertebrate, and one a marine vertebrate.

As part of an integrated approach, we will be researching how our organisms interact with the other aspects of the ocean system (geological, physical, and chemical).