Marine Biology

Where have we been, and where are we going?

Introduction 2

What is Marine Biology? Marine biology is the scientific study of

organisms in the marine environment

Oceanography? Marine biology is a combination of

functional biology and ecology

Introduction 3

Why should we study the marine habitat?

Provides many different resources

Widely used for recreation and essential in many coastal economies

Problems created by the marine environment and marine animals

Future generations

Introduction 4

The History of Marine Biology

Food source Middens Fish hooks

Knowledge of the marine environment increased with advancements in seamanship and navigation

Pacific Islanders VikingsPhoenicians ArabsGreeksEuropeans

Introduction 5

James Cook One of the first captains to

make scientific observations Chronometer Full-time naturalist Explored all oceans in 3

voyages Through his example in the

19th century most ships carried naturalists

James Cook

Introduction 6

James Cook Voyages

Francesco Bartolozzi and William Byrne The death of Captain Cook

Introduction 7

Charles Darwin In 1831 the H.M.S.

Beagle sailed around the world for 5 years carrying Charles Darwin

What are Darwin’s notable contributions to science and marine biology?

Charles Darwin

Introduction 8

Atoll Reefs and Barnacles

Introduction 9

Edward Forbes Naturalist on the Beacon and sampled

the bottom using a dredge Discovered that animal density decreased

with depth and that species diversity changes with depth

Azoic

Introduction 10

The Challenger Expedition In 1872 the British

government funded the first major oceanographic expedition.

A light warship, the HMS Challenger was used It took 19 years and 50

volumes to publish all the results

4,700 new species were discovered

New standards were set in studying the ocean. Challenger

Introduction 11

HMS Challenger Voyage

Fig. 1.5

Introduction 12

Marine Laboratories Marine labs were created at the

shore to tackle long term studies of the marine habitat

The first major American lab was the Woods Hole lab in Massachusetts

http://www.whoi.edu/home/ Another important lab was created in

Pacific Grove, California. The Scripps Institute

http://www-sio.ucsd.edu/

These and many other marine labs are crucial in the growth of marine biology today Woods Hole Institute

Introduction 13

Marine Biology Today The description of animals and

the general picture of marine biology is now well understood

Marine biologist are concerned with why patterns exist and how animals live

With advances in technologies new areas are now available to explore

Submersibles (Alvin) and ROV’s are used to explore the deep sea and hydrothermal ventsAlvin

Introduction 14

NAML National Association of Marine Lab

oratories