Riley and Steve Hathaway want to change the way young people think and act towards the ocean. Their vision is to “Inspire kids to enjoy and care for the world’s oceans”.
Marine trophic pyramid
Food webs throughout the world all have the same basic trophic levels. However, the number and type of species that make up each level varies greatly between different areas and different ecosystems.
Download a PDF of this diagram.
Science ideas and concepts in Young Ocean Explorers
In between the smiles, light-hearted banter and stunning underwater shots, Riley introduces a number of important science concepts:
- A habitat1 is the natural home or environment of a living thing.
- In a food web, energy and nutrients2 are passed from one living thing to another.
- Adaptation3 is an evolutionary process in which an organism4 becomes well suited to living in a particular habitat.
Resources on the Science Learning Hub provide an in-depth means to further explore these concepts.
Marine habitats
Riley explores several marine habitats5. In Harbours (episode 2), she discovers a busy underwater city that acts as a crèche for young fish, providing them with food and protection.
While exploring the kelp forests in episode 8, Riley finds snails, shrimps, crabs and sponges living among the seaweed.
New Zealand’s marine environment is incredibly diverse and is made up of a large number of habitats. Different habitats have different characteristics due to wave action, light, temperature6 substrate7 (sandy or muddy) and other factors. For example, Sandager’s wrasse fish (episode 6) need a habitat with a sandy floor, as this is where they sleep. Sea turtles (episode 9) visit New Zealand but don’t live here because the water is too cold.
Learn more about aquatic habitats
A habitat is the specific natural area in which an organism or group of organisms live and breed. These Hub resources provide more information about aquatic8 habitats.
Marine habitats
Habitats in the Bay of Plenty
Life on a reef
Activity ideas
Where do I live? – students learn about the characteristics of three marine habitats (harbour, surf beach and rocky shore) and match plants and animals with each habitat, according to their adaptive features.
Estuary metaphors – students discuss how a variety of everyday objects serve as metaphors for the characteristics and functions of estuaries9.
Marine food web
As Riley learns about rays (episode 1), crayfish (episode 3), orcas (episode 4) and sharks (episode 10), she mentions the food these creatures like to eat – and what eats them as well. In any food web, energy and nutrients are passed from one living thing to another. Food webs vary according to habitat, but all food webs have some things in common.
Primary producers make up the base of a food web. Phytoplankton10, seaweeds like kelp (episode 8) and seagrasses make their own food by converting energy from the Sun through photosynthesis11. Consumers cannot make their own food so they need to get food from other sources. For example, Riley tells us that rays eat shellfish, crabs and fish, but in turn, rays are eaten by sharks and orcas. Another important but often overlooked part of the food web is the decomposers. Bacteria12 and other organisms break down dead plants and animals, releasing the nutrients back into the ecosystem13.
Learn more about marine food webs
Food webs show the networks of feeding relationships between organisms that live in a particular habitat. These Hub resources provide more information about marine food webs.
Marine food webs
The bottom of the food chain
Understanding food webs in Fiordland
Tuna sandwich
Activity ideas
Build a marine food web – students build their own food web using images of organisms from the marine ecosystem. The activity can be completed indoors or outside.
Making a food web – this activity is a practical way for students to understand the complexity of food webs.
Marine ecosystem – this interactive diagram explores food webs and other aspects of life in the sea.
Adaptations of marine creatures
Riley explains some of the unusual characteristics of creatures found in New Zealand’s seas. These characteristics enable the creatures to live in a particular environment and are often referred to as adaptations14. Adaptations are generally grouped into three main categories: structural, physiological15 and behavioural.
Structural adaptations are the physical features of the organisms. For example, crayfish (episode 3) have spiky exoskeletons for protection because everyone wants to eat them! Kelp (episode 8) has honeycomb cells filled with air to help it bounce back from ocean waves. Kelp’s slimy coating protects it when the tide is out. Rays (episode 1), dolphins (episode 7) and sharks (episode 10) all have specialised teeth and eyesight to help them hunt or survive being hunted.
Physiological adaptations enable an organism to regulate16 how its body functions. For example, Sandager’s wrasse fish (episode 6) are all born female, but if a group’s male dies, the ‘bossiest’ female in the group becomes a male fish within 2 weeks.
Behavioural adaptations are learned or inherited behaviours that help an organism survive. For example, adult orcas (episode 4) teach their young how to hunt in groups and communicate with others in their pod to surround their prey.
Sea star adaptations – dorsal view
Sea stars have many weird and wonderful adaptations including both sexual and asexual reproduction. Click on any of the labels in this interactive to view short video clips or images to learn more.
Select here to view the full transcript and copyright information.
Sea star adaptations – ventral view
Sea stars have many weird and wonderful adaptations – including some unusual internal systems. Click on any of the labels in this interactive to view short video clips or images to learn more.
Select here to view the full transcript and copyright information.
Learn more about marine adaptations
Adaptation is an evolutionary process in which an organism becomes well suited to living in a particular habitat. These Hub resources provide more information about marine adaptations.
Adaptations of marine organisms
Adapting to marine habitats
Activity ideas
Hiding in plain sight – explore some of the adaptations fish use for camouflage.
Animal and plant adaptations – use reading skills to locate and integrate information about animal and plant adaptions, and use these to design a unique animal or plant.
Nature of science
Scientific understanding is based on observations of the world around us from which interpretations are made. Riley’s first-hand observations and interviews with experts provide examples that help illustrate and explain fundamental marine science concepts.
Useful links
Visit Te Ara website to learn more about these topics:
- Coastal shoreline habitats
- Remote and rugged fiord ecosystems
- The seafloor
- New Zealand estuary ecosystem food webs
Go here to purchase a copy of the Young Ocean Explorers DVD and Love Our Ocean book.
- habitat: The natural environment in which an organism lives.
- nutrient: A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism.
- adaptation: A change in the structure or function of something. In biology, a change in a species, as a result of natural selection. Individuals with a particular feature (adaptation) are more likely to survive and reproduce than individuals without this feature.
- organism: A living thing.
- habitat: The natural environment in which an organism lives.
- temperature: A measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or substance. Temperature is measured with a thermometer calibrated in one or more temperature scales. Kelvin scale temperature is a measure of the average energy of the molecules of a body.
- substrate: 1. In ecology, the surface or sediment where an organism lives and grows. 2. In biochemistry, the substance on which an enzyme works.
- aquatic: Growing or living in or near water (either freshwater or marine).
- estuary: A partially enclosed body of water where freshwater mixes with saltwater from the sea.
- phytoplankton: Very small plant organisms that drift with water currents and, like land plants, use carbon dioxide, release oxygen and convert minerals to a form animals can use.
- photosynthesis: A process that uses the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. Photosynthesis occurs in the green parts of plants, in algae and in some microorganisms.
- bacteria: (Singular: bacterium) Single-celled microorganisms that have no nucleus.
- ecosystem: An interacting system including the biological, physical, and chemical relationships between a community of organisms and the environment they live in.
- adaptation: A change in the structure or function of something. In biology, a change in a species, as a result of natural selection. Individuals with a particular feature (adaptation) are more likely to survive and reproduce than individuals without this feature.
- physiological: The function of organs and organ systems and how they work within a living organism to respond to external and internal challenges.
- regulated: Controlled by rules and laws. In biology: To adjust a bodily function or process. In genetics: To control the expression of a gene or genes.
