Seas and oceans provide various types of resources to human beings and habitats to numerous species of

plants and animals. They play very important roles in the economy of a nation and its people. Still, the
marine and coastal ecosystems are under severe stress due to human activities.

Ocean Resources

The ocean is one of Earth's most valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form of fish and
shellfish—about 200 billion pounds are caught each year. It's used for transportation—both travel and
shipping. It provides a treasured source of recreation for humans. It is mined for minerals (salt, sand,
gravel, and some manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found in the deep sea) and drilled for
crude oil.

The ocean plays a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere and providing oxygen. It
regulates Earth's climate. The ocean is an increasingly important source of biomedical organisms with
enormous potential for fighting disease. These are just a few examples of the importance of the ocean to
life on land. Explore them in greater detail to understand why we must keep the ocean healthy for future
generations.

Fishing Facts

The oceans have been fished for thousands of years and are an integral part of human society. Fish have
been important to the world economy for all of these years, starting with the Viking trade of cod and then
continuing with fisheries like those found in Lofoten, Europe, Italy, Portugal, Spain and India. Fisheries
of today provide about 16% of the total world's protein with higher percentages occurring in developing
nations. Fisheries are still enormously important to the economy and wellbeing of communities.

Shipping

The word “shipping” refers to the activity of moving cargo with ships in between seaports. Wind-
powered ships exist, but more often ships are powered by steam turbine plants or diesel engines. Naval
ships are usually responsible for transporting most of trade from one country to another and are called
merchant navies. The various types of ships include container ships, tankers, crude oil ships, product
ships, chemical ships, bulk carriers, cable layers, general cargo ships, offshore supply vessels,
dynamically-positioned ships, ferries, gas and car carriers, tugboats, barges and dredgers.

Mining

Humans began to mine the ocean floor for diamonds, gold, silver, metal ores like manganese nodules and
gravel mines in the 1950's when the company Tidal Diamonds was established by Sam Collins.
Diamonds are found in greater number and quality in the ocean than on land, but are much harder to
mine. When diamonds are mined, the ocean floor is dredged to bring it up to the boat and sift through the
sediment for valuable gems. The process is difficult as sediment is not easy to bring up to the surface, but
will probably become a huge industry once technology evolves to solve the logistical problem.

Metal compounds, gravels, sands and gas hydrates are also mined in the ocean. Sands and gravels are
often mined for in the United States and are used to protect beaches and reduce the effects of erosion.
Mining the ocean can be devastating to the natural ecosystems. Dredging of any kind pulls up the ocean
floor resulting in widespread destruction of marine animal habitats, as well as wiping out vast numbers of
fishes and invertebrates. When the ocean floor is mined, a cloud of sediment rises up in the water,
interfering with photosynthetic processes of phytoplankton and other marine life, in addition to
introducing previously benign heavy metals into the food chain. As minerals found on land are exploited
and used up, mining of the ocean floor will increase.

Marine life is a vast resource, providing food, medicine, and raw materials, in addition to helping to
support recreation and tourism all over the world. At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the
very nature of our planet. Marine organisms contribute significantly to the oxygen cycle, and are
involved in the regulation of the Earth's climate.[1] Shorelines are in part shaped and protected by marine
life, and some marine organisms even help create new land. [2]

The habitats studied by marine biology include everything from the tiny layers of surface water in which
organisms and abiotic items may be trapped in surface tension between the ocean and atmosphere, to the
depths of the oceanic trenches, sometimes 10,000 meters or more beneath the surface of the ocean. It studies
habitats such as coral reefs, kelp forests, tidepools, muddy, sandy and rocky bottoms, and the open ocean
(pelagic) zone, where solid objects are rare and the surface of the water is the only visible boundary.

A large amount of all life on Earth exists in the oceans. Exactly how large the proportion is unknown, since
many ocean species are still to be discovered. While the oceans comprise about 71% of the Earth's surface,
due to their depth they encompass about 300 times the habitable volume of the terrestrial habitats on Earth.
Plants and algae

Plant life is widespread and very diverse under the ocean. Microscopic photosynthetic algae contribute a
larger proportion of the worlds photosynthetic output than all the terrestrial forests combined. Most of
the niche occupied by sub plants on land is actually occupied by macroscopic algae in the ocean, such
as Sargassum and kelp, which are commonly known as seaweeds that creates kelp forests. The non algae
plants that survive in the sea are often found in shallow waters, such as the  seagrasses (examples of which
are eelgrass, Zostera, and turtle grass, Thalassia). These plants have adapted to the high salinity of the ocean
environment. The intertidal zone is also a good place to find plant life in the sea,
where mangroves or cordgrass or beach grass might grow. Microscopic algae and plants provide important
habitats for life, sometimes acting as hiding and foraging places for larval forms of larger fish and
invertebrates.
Marine invertebrates

As on land, invertebrates make up a huge portion of all life in the sea. Invertebrate sea life includes
Cnidaria such as jellyfish and sea anemones; Ctenophora; sea worms including
the phylaPlatyhelminthes, Nemertea, Annelida, Sipuncula, Echiura, Chaetognatha,
and Phoronida;Mollusca including shellfish, squid, octopus; Arthropoda including Chelicerata and Crustacea
;Porifera; Bryozoa; Echinodermata including starfish; and Urochordata including sea squirts ortunicates
The eco-system of the oceans of the world is controlled by the marine food chain. The marine
scientists call the ocean food chain as marine food web. The reason is many of the marine species nourish
on more than one kind of creature or food. There are many marine inmates who eat the members of their
own group. Are you aware of the fact marine biome is the largest biome on earth?

Ocean Food Chain

Phytoplankton: These are the single-celled marine plants that live on the sunlit upper layers of the
ocean, the "euphotic zone". Phytoplankton include dinoflagellates, coccolithophores and diatoms. The
phytoplankton are known as the primary producers of food because they use solar energy to convert
carbon dioxide and the other nutrients into carbohydrates that are used by the marine creatures. Ninety-
five percent of the primary food is derived from the phytoplankton. 

Zooplankton: The small floating animals known as zooplankton eat the phytoplankton. Shrimp,
copepods, jellyfish, mollusc are some of the examples of zooplankton. The larger zooplankton eat the
smaller zooplankton. 

Small Bait Fish: Examples of small bait fishes include sardines, crabs, lobsters and herrings. These
fishes eat zooplankton and the larger fishes of the ocean in turn eat them. 

Large Fish: Shark, sword fish, tuna and octopus are examples of large fishes. The larger fishes feed on
smaller fishes. 

Predators: The predators of the ocean include whales, sharks, killer whales and so on. The predators
form the fourth layer of the ocean food chain. The predators during their feeding season feed not only on
the larger fishes, but also on the members of their species or groups. 

The sea mammals such as seal, walrus, sea lion and dolphin also help to maintain the ocean food
chain. Oceanography and marine scienceunravels many an unsolved mystery, which fascinate mankind
even today.

Phytoplankton generate organic carbon through photosynthetic reactions.