Basics of an Ocean System
EOSC 315 101
Lecture 2
Basics of an Ocean System
09 Sept 2022
Odds and sods
• Short assignment will be discussed today
• Long assignment will be discussed on Wednesday
Assessment
Method 1
Method 2
Date
In Class Quizzes
(using CANVAS)
(best 4 of 5)
5%
5%
Various
(unannounced)
Web CANVAS quizzes
(best 5 of 6)
10%
10%
Every 2-3 weeks
(Fr-M)
Ecosystem
Assignment
10%
10%
Monday, 04 Oct
Final Project
25%
30%
Monday, 06 Dec
Midterm
20%
0%
Friday, 15 Oct
Final Exam
30%
45%
11-22 December*
Total (Final Grade)
100%
100%
Final grade = highest
of 2 methods.
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Short in class quizzes will be given during class. These are unannounced (5 total).
A missed assignment or quiz will be given a zero score, and no make-up will be given for individual students.
CANVAS quizzes will be available Friday at 7pm on CANVAS and must be completed by 1pm Monday. Quizzes will
be timed. Once the quiz is started, you have ONE hour to finish.
In Class Quizzes (not web quizzes)
• In Class quizzes will occur on CANVAS (to save resources).
– Please make sure to bring a device that works with Canvas quizzes to
class.
Quizzes will start at the end of the month to allow everyone to attend
Weekly Web CANVAS Quiz Parameters
• 5 quizzes total
– The lowest grade will be dropped (best 4 of 5)
• You will have TWO (2) attempts to take each quiz.
• Quizzes will go live Friday 7pm
– You can take the quiz until 1pm Monday
• Quizzes are 20 questions with one hour limit.
– No discussing the quiz (in discussion or any other format) until after the quiz
is finished (1pm Monday).
• Answers for the quizzes WILL NOT be posted!!
– VERY IMPORTANT: Use the CANVAS discussion section to discuss answers with
your fellow students (only after the quiz has closed!)
– You can also ask me SPECIFIC questions about the quiz questions.
Short Assignment (10% of your grade)
Due 03 Oct (before class)
Life cannot exist in a vacuum. Everything relies on other
organisms around them for their very survival. Life exists on a
very precarious edge. No two organisms act exactly alike.
For this assignment, we want you to spend some time
observing marine organisms in their natural environment
(intertidal, sub tidal, open ocean, sand flat, etc). We would like
you to spend some time just observing and looking at how
organisms interact with each other and their habitat.
We want you to observe 5 organisms in their natural marine
setting from a local marine environment (intertidal, beach,
estuary, mudflat, dock piling etc).
• We want to find a marine and just spend time observing.
Hopefully, you will see something cool or something you
have not noticed before!
Locations to choose
(this is a limited list. there are many more)
• Many local locations to choose from (shoot for a low tide):
– Stanley Park (Lumberman's Arch is best)
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• Good information on organisms there: https://naturevancouver.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2018/12/Nature_Vancouver_Intertidal_Pamphlet.pdf
Boundary Bay
Lighthouse Park
Towers Beach (near UBC)
Any dock with pylons
Any other marine environment (water must be SALTY/Ocean so estuaries are OK but rivers/lakes
are not)
– You can visit the Vancouver Aquarium but you must concentrate on a BC ecosystem (Treasures
Of The B.C. Coast) only and only the organisms from a single tank (main tank may be best)
• It may be hard to see a autotrophs in many of the tanks.
• Stay away from the tropical area of the aquarium!
In most locations…try to visit during a low tide…
For this assignment you must:
You MUST choose 5 organisms.
• Of the five, at least 1 must be an autotroph (gets energy from the sun)
• 2 must be heterotrophs (energy from eating other things).
• Of the 2 heterotrophs, at least one must be a carnivore and one must be an herbivore.
• This leaves you to choose any two (2) other organisms in the local ecosystem for a total of five.
• These organisms can be of any feeding type
Ecosystem assignment:
Elements to discuss when describing the marine
ecosystem:
• year round weather
• wave exposure
• light, temperature, salinity (saltiness: pay
attention to nearby rivers and rain and how
they may vary through the year)
• Substrate (hard, soft, sandy, muddy etc.).
• Anything else YOU think may be important
Elements to consider (describe and draw) for your
organisms:
You will describe 5 organisms in your own words.
• We do not expect you to use scientific terminology.
• This is meant to be an exercise on observational skills.
• Describe what you see using terminology you understand.
• Please give at least the common name. You can use Genus species if you want (does not result in more points), but it is not necessary
(remember Genus species must be italicized).
Things to talk about in your description/drawing of each organism:
• Size
• Shape
• Form
• special adaptations and limitations you think they must overcome to survive in their particular niche (special role) in their environment.
• Make sure to describe their interaction and importance to each other.
• In your drawings, make sure to include a SCALE BAR to show roughly the size of the organism
REMEMBER: There is no WRONG answer!
• If you think an organism eats/avoids prey in a particular way and you back it up with observations, you get full marks. You are mainly being
evaluated on your skills at observation.
• Do not choose an organism that you think does not interact in some way with the other chosen ones.
Ecosystem Assignment:
Graded Requirements
3-5 page essay (point form OK) describing an ecosystem and 5 organisms that exist in that ecosystem.
• Include a simple description of the environment where you found the organisms.
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Make sure to describe the environment in the short term (day to weeks) and long term (all four seasons).
Think about the types of environmental pressures the organism(s) will experience in their lives at that location (waves, weather,
temperature etc).
Organisms (5 total):
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1 autotroph
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Make 5 simple hand drawings (1 for each organism) of each organism.
Make sure to name it (common name is fine) as best as you can. Make sure to include a scale bar to show the size of the organism.
Indicate the part of the organism you will draw in greater detail.
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2 heterotrophs (one herbivore and one carnivore)
2 organisms of your choice (can be anything including herbivore or carnivore).
For each organism, draw separately (but next to the organism drawing) a part that allows the organism to be well adapted to its environment
with annotation on its form and what you think is its function
Please draw (at the end) a simple FOOD WEB (who eats who) with annotations/notes of how all the organisms interact with each
other based on your observations.
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It is OK to include other organisms not described in the essay to complete the picture.
Make sure to briefly summarize the interactions so the grader understands the relationships you are displaying.
This is a Food Web!
Ecosystem assignment:
Side Note
Important Note:
• To do this assignment correctly, most of your time should be spent at
the location observing, taking notes and drawing the organism. The
actual write up should take very little time.
– If you find yourself taking pictures of the organism so you can draw it later, you are
NOT doing the assignment correctly!!!
– Drawings can be dirty, full of coffee stains, covered in sand, etc.
– Please draw your organisms BY HAND!!!!
Can you draw
like Darwin?
Ecosystem assignment:
Grading (10 points total)
Mark Distribution:
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1 point for clearly describing the ecosystem
3 points for describing the organisms and what the organisms eat and what eats them
1 point for mentioning another interaction or a discussion of the interactions
2 points for the drawing if they showed the adaptation that they mentioned
2 points for listing an autotroph, herbivore, carnivore, (omnivore) and two others
1 point for the food web showing the interactions that they discussed.
Remember: You are not obligated to use science terms. You are encouraged to use your own
terminology as descriptions. Common names for organisms are as good as science names.
• 2 points will be removed if you do not describe a Pacific NW Ecosystem.
– Stay away from the tropical area of the aquarium!
Notes for using the Vancouver Aquarium
• Vancouver Aquarium is now open
• OK to use the Vancouver Aquarium if you want.
• It allows you the opportunity to see several
ecosystems and it supplies the resources.
• Notes for Vancouver Aquarium:
– You must choose an environment that is characteristic
of the Pacific NW. Nothing from the tropics please!
– Stick to the Treasures Of The B.C. Coast section.
– Assuming its still exists
Here we go……Class begins
Why should you care?
• Like everything, OK to not care…… But there will be an
exam.
• Lots of topics in ours lives are affected by biological
oceanography.
• Global climate change and weather
• Seafood
• Fossil fuels
• Medicines and food
• Tourism and recreation
• Evolution
• Anthropology
• Religion
• Hockey
• Not really.
Why I Care….
Why you should care……Climate change and the
oceans
https://theconversation.
com/ipcc-climatereport-profoundchanges-are-underwayin-earths-oceans-andice-a-lead-authorexplains-what-thewarnings-mean-165588
Why you should care…….
Climate Change and hurricanes
• Climate Change affects
hurricanes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/
29/climate/climate-changehurricanes.html
– Higher Winds
– More rain
– Slower Storms
– Wider Ranging storms
– More volatility
Hurricane Ida Aug 2021
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Global
Importance?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/oceansclimate-change-1.6154156
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Technology
• New satellite technology allows us to detect
bioluminescent plankton from space (satellites).
• Preliminary findings suggest bioluminescent
blooms can last from many weeks (Java
examples lasted 45 nights).
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Local
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•
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Study focussed on Fraser
River (Canada’s most
productive river)
85% of the lower portions
of the river are
inaccessible to salmon
due to development, in
filling and barriers such as
dams and culverts)
Floodplains very
important for salmon
ready to spawn and
juveniles as they develop
to head into the ocean.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8112125/pacificsalmon-habititat-loss-ubc-research/
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Local
Effects of June Heat Dome on
BC intertidal
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/intertidal-animals-ubc-research-1.6090774
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Local
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britishcolumbia/dozens-of-rare-sei-whales-spotted-byresearchers-in-unprecedented-sighting-off-b-c-scoast-1.6099754
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Global
https://www.theguardian.com/us
-news/2021/jul/17/florida-redtide-fertilizer-plant-spill
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Social Media
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Past
https://www.smithsonianmag.co
m/science-nature/sponge-fossilmay-be-earliest-record-animallife-180978297/
What it means…..
Other issues:
Do you like the taste of jellyfish?
• Overfishing appears to
result in a permanent
jellyfish population
– Japan Sea, the Black Sea,
the Mediterranean Sea,
Grand Banks
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Ocean
Acidification
•Increased CO2 leading to
more acidic ocean.
•Affects calcium carbonate
making organisms
•Coccolithophores
(phytoplankton)
•Corals (most productive
area in ocean)
•Bivalves
Puget Sound oysters
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Ocean Dead Zones
•Oxygen min zones-OMZ
•Over 400 zones in the
ocean where oxygen
levels are below what
organisms need to
survive.
•Areas of ‘hypoxia’
–too little O2 for marine
life
•Increased by 33% in 2
years
Tools you learn in this class and dead zones…….
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
•Major Extinctions
•Some species of bluefin tuna and swordfish will
probably be extinct in your lifetime
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
But….some Good News
• Yellowfin tuna
• Albacore tuna
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/good-news-for-tunapopulations-in-latest-iucn-update
“The good news is that ‘sustainable fisheries’ are possible”
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Film focuses on Tilikum/Tilly (born
December 1981), a bull orca who
currently lives in captivity at SeaWorld
Orlando, Florida.
• formerly lived at Sealand of the
Pacific in South Oak Bay, British
Columbia.
• Sired 21 calves, with 11 still alive.
• been involved in the deaths of three
people during his time in captivity;
two trainers and a SeaWorld visitor.
Current Biological Ocean Topics.
Cool Stuff
Giant Isopod
~0.5 metres long
~2 kg
Deepest recorded fish (8143 m): unknown variety of
snailfish
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141220040544.htm