• The ocean may be defined as the vast body of

saline water that occupies the depressions of

Earth’s surface. More than 97% of the water on or
near Earth’s surface is contained in the ocean; less
than 3% is held in land ice, groundwater, and all the
freshwater lakes and rivers combined
 oceanography
• Oceanography (or Marine science): is the
process of discovering unifying principles in data
obtained from the ocean, its associated life-
forms, and its bordering lands.
• Marine science draws on several disciplines,
integrating the fields of geology, physics, biology,
chemistry, and engineering as they apply to the
ocean and its surroundings.

• Nearly all marine scientists specialize in one area of

research, but they also must be familiar with
related specialties and appreciate the linkages
between them.
• Marine geologists: focus on questions such as
the composition of inner Earth, the mobility of
the crust, the characteristics of seafloor
sediments, and the history of Earth’s ocean,
continents, and climate. Some of their work
touches on areas of intense scientific and public
concern, including earthquake prediction and
the distribution of valuable resources.
• Physical oceanographers study and observe
wave dynamics, currents, and ocean–
atmosphere interaction.

• Chemical oceanographers study the ocean’s

dissolved solids and gases and their
relationships to the geology and biology of the
ocean as a whole.
• Climate specialists investigate the ocean’s role in
Earth’s changing climate. Their predictions of
long-term climate trends are becoming
increasingly important as pollutants change
Earth’s atmosphere.

• • Marine biologists work with the nature and

distribution of marine organisms, the impact of
oceanic and atmospheric pollutants on the
organisms, the isolation of disease-fighting drugs
from marine species, and the yields of fisheries.
• Marine engineers design and build oil
platforms, ships, harbors, and other structures
that enable us to use the ocean wisely.
 The Science of
Marine Biology
• Marine biology is the scientific study of the
organisms that live in the ocean.
• It is often the beauty, mystery, and variety of
life in the sea that attracts students to a
course in marine biology.
• There are also many practical reasons to study
marine biology. Marine life represents a vast
source of human wealth. It provides food,
medicines, and raw materials, in addition to
offering recreation to millions and supporting
tourism all over the world.
• marine organisms can also create problems.
For example, some organisms harm humans
• directly by causing disease or attacking
people. Others may harm us indirectly by
injuring or killing other marine organisms that
we value for food or other purposes.
• Marine organisms may erode piers, walls, and
other structures we build in the ocean, foul
the bottoms of ships, and clog pipes.
• Marine organisms produce much of the
oxygen we breathe and help regulate the
earth’s climate. Our shorelines are shaped and
protected by marine life.
• In economic terms, it has been estimated that
the ocean’s living systems are worth more
than $20 trillion a year.
• marine organisms provide clues to the earth’s
past, the history of life.
THE SCIENCE OF MARINE BIOLOGY
• Marine biology is not really a separate science
but rather the more general science of biology
applied to the sea.
• Nearly all the disciplines of biology are
represented in marine biology. There are
marine biologists who study the basic
chemistry of living things, for example. Others
are interested in marine life as whole
organisms: the way they behave, where they
live and why, and so on.
• Marine biology is closely related to oceanography,
the scientific study of the oceans. Like marine
biology, oceanography as many branches.
Geological oceanographers, or marine geologists,
Chemical oceanographers study ocean chemistry,
and physical oceanographers study waves, tides,
currents, and other physical aspects of the sea
• Marine biology is most closely related to
biological oceanography.
• Sometimes they are distinguished on the basis
that marine biologists tend to study organisms
living relatively close to shore, while biological
oceanographers focus on life in the open
ocean, far from land.
 The History of Marine Biology
• People probably started learning about
marine life from the first time they saw the
ocean.
• Archaeologists have found piles of shells, the
remains of ancient “clambakes,” dating back
to the Stone Age. Ancient harpoons and
simple fishhooks of bone or shell have also
been found.
• The tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh bears a
warning against eating a pufferfish, a kind of
poisonous fish.
• Knowledge of the ocean and its organisms
developed as people gained skills in seamanship
and navigation.
• The Phoenicians were the first accomplished
Western navigators. By 2000 B.C. they were
sailing around the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea,
eastern Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean.
• ancient Greeks, affair amount was known
about the things that live near shore.
• Aristotle is considered by many to be the first
marine biologist.
• Dark Ages
• Viking party led by Leif Eriksson discovered
Vinland, what we now call North America
• Arab traders were also active during the
Middle Ages, voyaging to eastern Africa,
southeast Asia, and India. In the process they
learned about wind and current patterns,
including the monsoons, strong winds that
reverse direction with the seasons.
• In the Renaissance Europeans again began to
investigate the world around them. At first
there were mainly voyages
• Christopher Columbus rediscovered the “New
World” in 1492—word of the Vikings’ find had
never reached
• In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan embarked on the
first expedition to sail around the globe.
• An English sea captain, James Cook, was one
of the first to make scientific observations
along the way and to include a full-time
naturalist among his crew.
• He brought back specimens of plants and
animals and tales of strange new lands.
• By the nineteenth century it was common for
vessels to take along a naturalist to collect and
study the life forms that were encountered.
Perhaps the most famous of these shipboard
naturalists was Charles Darwin
• He also used nets to capture the tiny drifting
creatures known as plankton.
 The Challenger Expedition
• By the middle of the nineteenth century a few
scientists were able to undertake voyages for
the specific purpose of studying the oceans.
One was Edward Forbes (39 years old), He
discovered many previously unknown
organisms and recognized that sea-floor life is
different at different depths.
• in 1872 British scientists managed to convince
their government to fund the first major
oceanographic expedition, under the scientific
leadership of Charles Wyville Thompson. The
British navy supplied a light warship to be
fitted out for the purpose. The ship was
named HMS Challenger.
• Challenger underwent extensive renovations
in preparation for the voyage.
• Laboratories and quarters for the scientific
crew were added, and gear for dredging and
taking water samples in deep water was
installed (3.5 years).
• After the Challenger expedition returned to
port, it took 19 years to publish the results,
which fill 50 thick volumes.
• Challenger brought back samples of
thousands of previously unknown species.
Thus, the Challenger expedition laid the
foundations of modern marine science.
 The Growth of Marine Labs
• Unfortunately, oceanographic vessels had
quarters for only a limited number of
scientists. Most biologists just got to see the
dead, preserved specimens that the ships
brought back to port. This was fine as long as
biologists were content with simply describing
the structure of new forms of marine life.
• Living specimens were essential for the study
of these aspects of biology, but ships usually
stayed in one place only for a short time,
making long-term observations and
experiments impossible.

• some biologists began to conduct their studies

at the seashore.
• Eventually, permanent laboratories dedicated
to the study of marine life were established.
These labs allowed marine biologists to keep
organisms alive and to work over long periods.

• The first such laboratory was the Stazione

Zoologica, founded in Italy, by German
biologists in 1872
• marine stations.

• The onset of World War II had a major effect

on the development of marine biology.
• sonar, or sound navigation ranging,
The years immediately after World War II saw the
refinement of the first really practical
scuba, or self-contained underwater breathing
apparatus

Gagnan and fellow Frenchman Cousteau

 Marine Biology Today
• Today many universities and other institutions
operate research vessels

• High-tech submarines can descend to the deepest

parts of the ocean, revealing a world that was
once inaccessible
• Marine biologists are making increasing use of
remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)
• There are even undersea habitats where
scientists can live for weeks at a time, literally
immersed in their work
• Marine laboratories are important not only as
research institutions, but also as centers of
education.
• New technology offers exciting opportunities
for the study of the oceans.

• Computers have had a tremendous impact

because they allow scientists to rapidly
analyze huge amounts of information
• Space technology has also aided the study of
the sea. Satellites now orbit the earth, peering
down at the ocean below. Because they are so
far away, these satellites can capture the big
picture, viewing broad areas of the ocean all at
once
• Remote sensing technology, or technology
used to study the earth and its oceans from
afar.