Water as Habitat. Coral Reefs. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

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1 Water as Habitat Coral Reefs Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

2 A Message from the Smithsonian Marine Station The Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit is located in the St. Lucie County Marine Center on South Hutchinson Island. Hours: Tues - Sat: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Sunday & Monday: Closed Admission: Adults: $3.00 Seniors (55+): $2.00 Children: $2.00 Children (0-4): FREE The First Tuesday of each month is FREE! Location: 420 Seaway Drive Fort Pierce, FL FISH The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce has been advancing our understanding of our watery world here on the Treasure Coast for almost 40 years. Hundreds of researchers from around the world have contributed over 850 publications on biodiversity, life histories, and the ecology of the Indian River Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean. Sharing what we have learned with the community is an important part of our mission. We hope that you will enjoy this colorful introduction to our world s greatest resource - the ocean - and will join us in celebrating it at our World Ocean Day event on June 4, 2011 at the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit, located in the St. Lucie County Marine Center on South Hutchinson Island. For more information on this and other ocean related events, or to further increase your knowledge of marine ecosystems, visit our website at or stop in and see us today! Best Fishes, The Staff of the Smithsonian Marine Station and Ecosystems Exhibit Celebrate World Ocean Day! Join us on JUNE 4, 2011 from 10:00-3:00 PM! Free Gift Bags for the first 200 children! Face Painting ~ Touchtank Demonstrations Guided Tours~Discounted Boat Rides on IRL Chalk Art Contest ~ Hands-on Activities & Crafts And MUCH MORE! Call for more information! 2

3 What a watery World! Our word ocean comes from a Greek word. Ancient Greeks saw how big the ocean was, and how fast the water moved, and they called it okeanos a river that circles around the world. Today, we know that the ocean is the body of water that makes up almost 75 percent of the surface of the globe and contains about 97 percent of all the water on the planet. All life on Earth depends on the ocean and we re not just talking about fish. The water in the ocean evaporates into the atmosphere, producing precipitation that allows us to farm and grow food. The ocean provides us with seafood and food additives that make up a large part of our diet. Our climate is affected by the ocean s current the movement of water, which shifts warm air, cold air, and rains onto land. We use the ocean for transportation. We extract oil, gas, and important minerals from it. We even use the ocean for recreation (ever been swimming, surfing, or sailing?) and turn ocean products like pearls into jewelry. It s hard to say exactly how the Earth s oceans first formed since it happened long before there were any people. Many scientists think that the oceans were created by a combination of activity from volcanoes and comets. Billions of years ago, when the Earth first formed, it was burning hot. Over time, as the crust began to cool enough so that water on it would not immediately boil, volcanoes released water vapor and gases up into clouds. Water formed in the clouds and rain began to fall, filling up hollows in the Earth s surface and producing the oceans. Around the same time, comets containing chunks of frozen water hit the Earth and released their water into the developing oceans. Quick Quiz The east coast of Florida is bordered by which ocean? A. Indian B. Atlantic C. Pacific D. Arctic 3

4 How humans affect the ocean The ocean is so large that many people don t realize the negative effects an act like dumping a little garbage can have. It just spreads out and disappears into the water, right? Wrong. When people pollute, we harm the water and everything living in it. The more pollution there is, the farther the negative effects will spread, until the entire ocean is damaged. We may rely on the ocean, but we haven t been taking very good care of it. It s more than just oil spilled from a tanker or trash littered on a beach. Drilling and mining erodes beaches and hurts water quality. Overfishing depletes whole species of fish, and harms whatever else gets in the way of the fishing nets and lines. Coastal development threatens coastal ecosystems. Global climate change melts glaciers and raises the oceanwater level and the water temperature. Major oil spills from ships transporting oil, like the Exxon Valdez, and from accidents at oil-drilling sites get all the attention, but did you know that hundreds of millions of gallons of oil end up in the ocean every year from non-accidental sources, like improperly disposed engine oil from cars and trucks? When garbage and trash make their way into the ocean, animals can get tangled up and drown. Plastic, like the bag floating in the picture at left, poses a threat because it does not break down easily and is often mistaken for food. If it is eaten it can make animals very sick. When it does break down, it turns into tiny pieces that get ingested. Toxic substances like chemicals from landfills, dumps, mines, farms, and factories can get into ocean water and create all types of problems. For example, fertilizer from farms can flow into the ocean from rivers and cause algae to grow faster than usual. The algae can block sunlight shining into the water, making it difficult or impossible for plants to carry out photosynthesis. When that happens, plants can t live and grow, or give off oxygen for the animals to breath. 4 Quick Quiz TRUE or FALSE? People that live far away from the ocean cannot have any affect on the ocean.

5 Ocean Word Find Search this sea of letters to find some important ocean-related words. Words are forward, down and diagonal. Word List AQUIFER BIOLUMINESCENCE CONSERVATION CONSUMER CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM ENDANGERED EUPHOTIC ZONE EVAPORATION EXOSKELETON FOOD WEB GULF STREAM MANGROVE OCEANOGRAPHER POLAR POLLUTION PRECIPITATION PRODUCER SALINITY SCAVENGER SEAGRASS TEMPERATE TROPICAL WATERSHED ZOOXANTHELLAE 5

6 Florida s Coral Reefs Tiny animals, some smaller than a button are responsible for creating some of the ocean s most important and impressive habitats coral reefs. An individual coral animal is called a polyp. Thousands of polyps together create stone-like structures that they live in. When the polyps die, new ones settle on top and keep building. Coral reefs are built slowly over thousands, sometimes millions, of years. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living structure on the planet at about 93 miles wide and 1,240 miles long! Most reef building corals need sunlight and warm clear water to grow, so they are found in tropical waters. Corals have algae called zooxanthellae (zo zan thel ee) that live inside their bodies. The zooxanthellae use the sunlight in a process called photosynthesis to create food. A great example of a symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit, the coral uses some of the food and the algae has a protected place to live. The algae is also the source of the beautiful and bright colors of coral. Scientists believe that one-third of all life in the ocean depends on coral reefs for survival. A coral reef habitat serves as a nursery for all kinds of young creatures that may move out to the open sea in their adult years. It acts as a hiding place or temporary shelter for some and is a permanent home to many others. Coral reefs are also a great hunting ground and source of food for large predators such as sharks. Living in a coral reef are brightly colored fish, moray eels, lobsters, clams, urchins, sea stars, and snails. Cruising by might be sharks, giant manta rays, or large schools of barracuda. 6

7 Dangers to Coral Many things threaten the world s coral reefs. Pollution from sewage and farm runoff triggers deadly coral diseases. A big problem in the Florida Keys is that agricultural runoff from the Everglades wetland system flows into Florida Bay and down to the Keys. The nitrogen and phosphorous in this runoff creates algae blooms excessive amounts of algae that smother the coral and suck up all the oxygen until there isn t enough left for the plants and animals of the coral reef ecosystem to survive. Sediment from construction, drilling, and mining projects makes the water cloudy, blocking sunlight the coral need to live. A rise in coastal development has made the problem worse and developers sometimes erect piers or other structures right on top of fragile reefs. Trash can float over a reef and get stuck, blocking needed sunlight. Animals can mistake the trash for food and eat it, which can poison or choke them. Overfishing upsets the reef s delicately balanced ecosystem. Even when they re not removing an excessive amount, commercial fisheries frequently catch fish in ways that destroy the coral, which means the fish that weren t caught no longer have a home. Careless destruction is also a problem. A diver might crumble a reef by standing on it, a tourist could take a piece as a souvenir, or a boat captain could drop a heavy anchor on the coral. Corals are alive, but many people don t realize that, explains Laura Diederick, Education Specialist at the Smithsonian Marine Station. It s important that everyone understand that we all have a responsibility to keep them healthy. 7

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12 Exploring the Ocean with the Smithsonian Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit - Fort Pierce, Florida Here on the east coast of Florida we are fortunate to live along the shores of the most diverse estuary in North America - the 156-mile long Indian River Lagoon - and the Atlantic Ocean. The Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit provides a window into these underwater worlds. Make no mistake, we are not a typical public aquarium. Our focus is on displaying marine ecosystems as complex communities of organisms interacting in their environments. At the Marine Ecosystems Exhibit, visitors can explore six different Florida marine habitats and learn about the complexity and importance of these ecosystems. Visitors can explore the 3000-gallon Caribbean coral reef, as well as living models of seagrass, mangrove and nearshore habitats. There are also a number of smaller displays and a touch tank where you can meet some of our local sea creatures. Tom Smoyer Smithsonian Institution 12 Sant Ocean Hall - Washington, DC In September 2008, the Smithsonian s National Museum of Natural History opened the Sant Ocean Hall. The Smithsonian has the largest collection of marine organisms in the world - over 80 million specimens - ranging from tiny algae to titanic whale skeletons. Yet less than 1% of this collection is on display! That may not seem like a whole lot, but there are still enough on display to fill a 23,000-squarefoot exhibit hall! But if you can t get up to Washington to see the museum, don t worry! Visit for an ocean of information and on-line activities. You can also visit us virtually by visiting our underwater webcams! Click on the virtual tour link at to view our seagrass and coral reef ecosystems! Bill Hoffman Exhibit Manager, Smithsonian Marine Why did you want Ecosystems Exhibit to get into marine science? I ve always liked nature and spent a lot of time outside. I think it came from my father and all the trips we took to Florida as a kid. Where did you go to school and what did you study? As an undergrad I studied Biology. I went on to College of Charleston to get my Masters degree in Marine Science. What is your favorite part of your job? Observing nature firsthand everyday and watching the specialized ways that the animals have of communicating with one another.

13 Careers in Marine Science Raphael Ritson-Williams Research Assistant, Smithsonian Marine Station What are your responsibilities as a Research Assistant? I work for the Director of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Dr. Valerie Paul. We research marine chemical ecology, which involves doing chemistry in the laboratory, collecting marine organisms from the field, and setting up, maintaining, and completing experiments. I also write scientific papers and train students and other scientists how to use the instruments in our lab. Where did you go to school? What did you study? I earned an undergraduate degree in Biology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. I received my Master s degree in Biology from The University of Guam. Guam is in an island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What is the coolest thing about your job? Much of my research focuses on coral reefs, which means that I get to go to the tropics and scuba dive in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Cristin Ryan What do Marine Educator, you do as an Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit educator? I educate! A lot of my job involves interpreting to visitors that come to the Exhibit, which also means spending time at our touch tank, making sure no one crushes a sea cucumber. I also work with school groups, public programs, summer camps and coordinate our volunteer program. Oh, and I write temporary signage and create displays. You may notice this is a pretty diverse list that s one of my favorite things about my job - no two days are the same! Tell us about your schooling. I took a lot of upper-level science classes in high school (definitely take advantage of getting those AP credits!), then got my degree from the University of Arizona with a double-major in German Studies and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Any words of wisdom for young ocean enthusiasts? There are countless ways to work in marine-related careers without being a marine biologist. If you love science and research, go for it, but if not, consider other opportunities (working as crew on a ship, being an engineer who designs equipment for marine biologists or even working as a SCUBA instructor). Making a Difference 13

14 The future of our oceans starts with your help The Protect Our Reefs License Plate Raising more than $6.5million for Coral Reef restoration, research & education since Support the future of our oceans Buy your Protect Our Reefs plate today! 14 \

15 O Ea C n scrambl e Looks like some ocean waves scrambled the letters in the words below! Use the word list from the Ocean Word Find (page 5) to help you put these ten terms back in order. 1. S M S E O T C S Y E 2. E N O O K L E S T X E 3. O D O F E W B 4. O E I T A O N R V A P 5. I L U O O L N T P Try This! Can you define all these ocean-related terms? Use a dictionary, this activity booklet, the internet and other resources and write out the definitions. After you know what they mean, see if you can find them in the real world! Search the newspaper for stories that contain these words. Write a short summary of what the articles are about. 6. Y I N I A T S L 7. A R O C L R F E E 8. H E W S A T R E D 9. S A A G S E R S 10. M G N E R O A V 15 9

16 THANK YOU: Laura Diederick Thank you to the following without whose help this program would not have been possible. Holly Sw eat L aura Diederick CREDITS: RESOURCES: For more information on the research of the Smithsonian Marine Station: For more information on the education programs at the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit: ACTIVITY ANSWER KEYS: Quick Quiz: Page 3: B. Atlantic / Page 4: False Ocean Scramble (page 15) 1. Ecosystem 2. Exoskeleton 3. Food Web 4. Evaporation 5. Pollution 6. Salinity 7. Coral Reef 8. Watershed 9. Seagrass 10. Mangrove Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce This educational supplement was created by the Wyland Foundation. Copyright 2006 the Wyland Foundation. All rights reserved. Extensive alterations in textual and graphic content were made by Laura Diederick, Education Specialist at the Smithsonian Marine Station. All rights reserved. Except where otherwise noted, all photographs are courtesy of Raphael Ritson-Williams, Research Assistant at the Smithsonian Marine Station. Original program architect and creative director Wyland, design and development by Sue Ann Balogh of the Wyland Foundation. Written by Rachel Vigoda of Hollister Kids, Wynnewood, PA with Sue Ann Balogh. Edited by Peter Landry of Hollister Kids, Art Direction by Tracy Potter, Graphic Design by: Tina Wu, Linda Walker, Natalie Rim, Gregg Hamby, and Jennifer Martin of the Wyland Foundation.