essay on marine biology

Introductory essay

Written by the educators who created The Deep Ocean, a brief look at the key facts, tough questions and big ideas in their field. Begin this TED Study with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean. Arthur C. Clarke

Planet Ocean

In the late 1960s, the Apollo Mission captured images of Earth from space for the very first time. These iconic photos gave people around the world a fresh perspective on our home planet — more specifically, its vast and dazzling expanses of blue. It's perhaps unsurprising that science has subsequently established the key roles that the ocean and its marine organisms play in maintaining a planetary environment suitable for life.

While the Apollo astronauts were sending back pictures of our blue planet, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was searching for ways to detect life on other planets such as Mars. James Lovelock's investigations led him to conclude that the only way to explain the atmospheric composition of Earth was that life was manipulating it on a daily basis. In various publications, including his seminal 1979 book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth , Lovelock launched the Gaia hypothesis, which describes how the physical and living components of the natural environment, including humankind, interact to maintain conditions on Earth. During the same period, marine scientists including Lawrence Pomeroy, Farooq Azam and Hugh Ducklow were establishing a firm link between the major biogeochemical cycles in the oceans and marine food webs, particularly their microbial components. In the late 1980s and 1990s, large-scale research programs like the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) explored ocean biogeochemistry and established the oceans' pivotal role in the Earth's carbon cycle.

Research efforts like these underscored the oceans' critical importance in regulating all the major nutrient cycles on Earth. It's now widely recognized that the ocean regulates the temperature of Earth, controls its weather, provides us with oxygen, food and building materials, and even recycles our waste.

The advent of deep-sea science

It seems remarkable that until fairly recently many scientists believed that life was absent in the deep sea. Dredging in the Aegean Sea in the 1840s, marine biologist Edward Forbes found that the abundance of animals declined precipitously with depth. By extrapolation he concluded that the ocean would be azoic (devoid of animal life) below 300 fathoms (~550m depth). Despite evidence to the contrary, scientists supported the azoic hypothesis, reasoning that conditions were so hostile in the deep ocean that life simply could not survive. Extreme pressure, the absence of light and the lack of food were viewed as forming an impenetrable barrier to the survival of deep-sea marine species.

But others were already proving this hypothesis wrong. As Edward Forbes published his results from the Aegean, Captain James Clark Ross and the famous naturalist John Dalton Hooker were exploring the Antarctic in the Royal Navy vessels HMS Terror and HMS Erebus . During this expedition, Ross and Hooker retrieved organisms from sounding leads at depths of up to 1.8km, including urchin spines and other fragments of various marine invertebrates, a number of bryozoans and corals. Ross remarked, "I have no doubt that from however great a depth we may be enabled to bring up the mud and stones of the bed of the ocean we shall find them teeming with animal life." This contention was supported by work of Norwegian marine biologists Michael Sars and George Ossian Sars who dredged hundreds of species from depths of 200 to 300 fathoms off the Norwegian coast.

Further evidence came from natural scientists William Carpenter and Charles Wyville-Thomson, who mounted expeditions in 1868 and 1869 on the vessels HMS Lightening and HMS Porcupine to sample the deep ocean off the British Isles, Spain and the Mediterranean. The findings of these expeditions, which Wyville-Thomson published in his 1873 book The Depths of the Sea , confirmed the existence of animal life to depths of 650 fathoms — including all the marine invertebrate groups — and suggested that oceanic circulation exists in the deep sea.

This convinced the Royal Society of London and the Royal Navy to organize the circumnavigating voyage of HMS Challenger in the 1870s. In part, the expedition's purpose was to survey potential routes for submarine telegraph cables, and so the links between scientific exploration and human use of the deep sea were established in the very early days of oceanography. The Challenger expedition was a watershed for deep-ocean science, establishing the basic patterns of distribution of deep-sea animals, and that their main food source was the rain of organic material from surface waters.

In the 1950s, the Danish Expedition Foundation's Galathea voyage established that life occurred at depths of more than 10km in the Philippines Trench. In 1960 marine explorers Auguste Picard and Don Walsh reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench, at a depth estimated to be 10,916 meters--the deepest part of the ocean — where they observed flatfish from the porthole of their pressure sphere. This feat was not repeated until 2012 when James Cameron visited the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the submersible Deepsea Challenger .

Hype or hyper-diversity in the deep sea?

While working at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the late 1960s, scientists Howard Sanders and Robert Hessler developed new types of deep-sea trawls called epibenthic sleds that featured extra- fine mesh in the nets. When the new trawls were tested, they recovered an astonishing diversity of species from the deep sea. It became apparent that the species richness of deep-sea communities actually increased with greater depth to a peak somewhere on the continental slope between 2,000 and 4,000 meters depth. Beyond these depths, diversity appeared to decrease (but not everywhere), or the pattern was unclear.

How to explain this amazing diversity in the deep sea? Initially, scientists credited the species richness to the stability of environmental conditions in the deep ocean, which would support extreme specialization of the animals and thus allow many species to coexist. This is known as the stability-time hypothesis. Some scientists considered that small-scale variations of the sediments of the deep ocean, including reworking of seabed by animals, was important in maintaining microhabitats for many species. In the late 1970s other scientists suggested that conditions in shallow waters allow competitive exclusion, where relatively few species dominate the ecosystem, whereas in deeper waters environmental factors associated with depth and a reduced food supply promote biological communities with more diversity.

Fred Grassle and Nancy Maciolek added substantially to our knowledge of deep-sea biodiversity when they published a study of the continental slope of the eastern coast of the USA in the early 1990s. Grassle and Maciolek based their study on quantitative samples of deep-sea sediments taken with box cores. These contraptions retrieve a neat cube-shaped chunk of the seabed and bring it to the surface enclosed in a steel box. Scientists then sieve the mud and count and identify the tiny animals living in the sediment.

In a heroic effort, Grassle and Maciolek analyzed 233 box cores, an equivalent of 21 square meters of the seabed, identifying 90,677 specimens and 798 species. They estimated that they found approximately 100 species per 100 km along the seabed they sampled. Extrapolations of this figure suggested that there may be 1 - 10 million macrofaunal species in the deep sea.

What's more, some scientists argued that Grassle and Maciolek's estimates represented only a small part of the species diversity in the ocean depths. Dr John Lambshead of London's Natural History Museum pointed out that Grassle and Maciolek had not examined the smallest animals in sediments — the meiofauna — made up of tiny nematode worms, copepods and other animals. These are at least an order of magnitude more diverse than the macrofauna, suggesting that as many as 100 million species may inhabit the deep ocean.

However, given that the latest approximation of the Earth's biodiversity is 10 million species in total, Lambshead's number appears to be an overestimate. Scientists have since realized that there are major problems with estimating the species richness of large areas of the deep sea based on local samples. Today we understand that species diversity in the deep ocean is high, but we still don't know how many species live in the sediments of the continental slope and abyssal plains. We also don't understand the patterns of their horizontal distribution or the reasons for the parabolic pattern of species diversity as it relates to depth. Evidence suggests, however, that the functioning of deep-sea ecosystems depends on a high diversity of animals — although exactly why remains open to conjecture.

The creation of deep-sea environments: "Drifters" and "Fixists"

In 1912, German scientist Alfred Wegener put forward his theory of continental drift to address many questions that engaged the geologists and biologists of his time. For example, why do the continents appear to fit together as though they had once been joined? Why are many of the large mountain ranges coastal? And, perhaps most intriguing, why do the rocks and fossil biotas (combined plant and animal life) on disconnected land masses appear to be so similar?

Wegener's theory provoked a major scientific controversy that raged for more than 50 years between "drifters" and "fixists." Critics of Wegener's — the "fixists" — pointed out that Wegener's proposed mechanism for drift was flawed.

In the search for an alternate mechanism to explain continental drift, British geologist Arthur Holmes suggested that radioactive elements in the Earth were generating heat and causing convection currents that made the Earth's mantle fluid. Holmes argued that the mantle would then rise up under the continents and split them apart, generating ocean basins and carrying the landmasses along on the horizontally-moving currents.

Following World War II, scientific expeditions employing deep-sea cameras, continuously recording echo-sounders, deep-seismic profilers and magnetometers lent support to the arguments of Holmes and his fellow "drifters." Scientists realized that the deep sea hosted a vast network of mid-ocean ridges located roughly in the center of the ocean basins. These ridges were characterized by fresh pillow lavas, sparse sediment cover, intense seismic activity and anomalously high heat flow. Scientists found geologically-synchronous magnetic reversals in the rocks of the ocean crust moving away from either side of the mid-ocean ridges. Added to this was the fact that nowhere could scientists find sediments older than the Cretaceous in age. Together, these findings suggested that new oceanic crust was being formed along the mid-ocean ridges, while old oceanic plates are forced underneath continental plates and destroyed along the ocean trenches. By the late 1960s, the bitter scientific debate between the "fixists" and the "drifters" was finally settled.

Life without the sun

During the next decade, scientists investigating volcanic activity at mid-ocean ridges became interested in the associated phenomenon of hot springs in the deep sea. Anomalously high temperature readings over mid-ocean ridge axes led scientists to mount an expedition in 1977 to the 2.5 km-deep Galápagos Rift. From the submersible Alvin, the scientists observed plumes of warm water rising from within the pillow lavas on the seabed. Living amongst the pillows were dense communities of large vesicoyid clams, mussels, limpets and giant vestimentiferan tube worms (Siboglinidae). An abundance of bacteria around the Galápagos Rift site immediately suggested that these communities might be based on bacterial chemosynthesis, or chemolithotrophy, using chemical energy obtained by oxidizing hydrogen sulphide to drive carbon fixation. Subsequent investigation confirmed that the giant tube worms, clams and mussels actually hosted symbiotic sulphur-oxidizing bacteria in their tissues.

The discovery caused huge excitement in the scientific community. Here was life thriving in the deep sea, where primary production — the basis of the food web — was independent from the sun's energy. Furthermore, as scientists discovered additional vent communities and surveyed elsewhere in the mid-ocean ridge system, they found that environmental conditions were extreme, with high temperatures, acidic waters, hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and the presence of toxic chemicals the norm.

The implications of this were enormous and went well beyond the study of the ocean itself. First, it meant that life could exist elsewhere in our solar system in environments previously thought too extreme. Second, it widened the potential area for habitable planets around suns elsewhere in the universe. For example, the discovery in 2000 of the Lost City alkaline hydrothermal vents presented an environment that some scientists suggest is analogous to the conditions in which life evolved on Earth.

Subsequently, chemosynthesis has been discovered in many places in the ocean, including deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps, in large falls of organic matter such as whale carcasses, and from shallow-water sediments associated with, for example, seagrass beds.

Drawing down the oceans' natural capital

Over the past two decades, we've developed a much deeper understanding of the relationship between humankind and the natural world, including the Earth's oceans. In 1997 Robert Costanza and his colleagues published a paper in Nature that estimated the economic value of the goods and services provided by global ecosystems. Costanza and his colleagues argued that the living resources of Earth could be viewed as a form of natural capital with a value averaging $33 trillion per annum, upon which the entire human economy depended. These goods and services were later grouped into supporting (e.g. primary production), provisioning (e.g. food), regulating (climate regulation) and cultural (e.g. education) services.

While this knowledge may have been intuitive for many people, Costanza's recasting of the environment in economic terms forced policymakers, industry leaders and others to recognize the importance of long-term environmental sustainability. With the support of international agencies such as the World Bank, many countries are now implementing natural capital accounting procedures through legislation. The purpose of this is to help monitor and regulate the use and degradation of the environment and to ensure that the critical ecosystem goods and services underpinning economic activity and human well-being are not undermined.

Although it seems like a modern preoccupation, sustainability is actually a centuries-old challenge, particularly as it relates to marine environments. For example, there is evidence that aboriginal fisheries in ancient times may have overexploited marine species. Certainly by medieval times in Europe, a thriving market for fish, coupled with other developments like changing agricultural practices, forced species such as salmon and sturgeon into decline.

The Industrial Revolution led to an increase in hunting fish, seals and whales, thanks to the development of steam- and then oil-powered fishing vessels that employed increasingly sophisticated means of catching animals. Pelagic whaling began in the early 20th century; the development of explosive harpoons, the ability to process whales at sea, and the strong demand for margarine made from whale oil all contributed to dramatic rises in catches. Despite the initiation of the International Whaling Commission in 1946, a serial depletion of whale populations took place from the largest, most valuable species (e.g. blue whale) through to the smallest species (minke whale). The failure to regulate catches of whales led to the establishment of a near-moratorium on whaling in 1986.

Over the same post-war period, fishing fleets underwent a major expansion and deployed increasingly powerful fishing vessels. Improved technologies for navigating, finding fish and catching them led to increasing pressure on fish stocks and the marine ecosystems in which they lived. In 1998, after analyzing catch statistics from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Daniel Pauly and his colleagues from the University of British Columbia identified a global shift in fish catches from long-lived, high trophic level predators to short-lived, low trophic level invertebrates and plankton-eating fish. This was the first evidence that fishing was having a global impact on marine ecosystems, causing major changes in the structure of ocean food webs. Aside from the economic impacts of "fishing down the food web," evidence was accumulating that it also affected the vulnerability and/or resilience of marine ecosystems to shocks such as invasions by alien species and climate-change effects such as mass coral bleaching.

Further evidence came in 2003 from a study by Ransom Myers and Boris Worm. Myers and Worm documented a significant decline over time in the stocks of certain large, predatory fish after analyzing information from research trawl surveys and the catches of the Japanese long-line fleet. Other studies over the same time period suggested that sharks, seabirds and turtles were suffering large-scale declines as they became by-catch in many industrial fisheries. Scientists also asserted that some fishing technologies, such as bottom trawling, were extremely damaging to seabed communities — deep-sea ecosystems in particular — by documenting the devastation of cold-water coral communities.

These studies sparked a bitter war of words between marine ecologists, fishing industry executives and fisheries biologists. While it has now been demonstrated that fish stocks can recover if levels of exploitation by fisheries are reduced through management measures, it's clear that in many parts of the world's oceans this is not happening. Overall, global yields from marine capture fisheries are in a downward trajectory. By-catch of some marine predators, such as albatrosses, still poses a threat of extinction. Habitat destruction resulting from fishing is continuing.

In addition to overfishing, other human activities are damaging marine ecosystems. During the 1960s and 1970s, several major accidents with oil tankers and oil installations resulted in serious oil spills. While oil pollution is still a significant problem, as illustrated by the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, other less-visible sources of pollution are causing large-scale degradation of the ocean.

Persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals such as mercury are being recognized as major health issues for marine animals (especially high trophic level predators, such as killer whales and tuna) and also for humans. The oceans are becoming the dumping ground for a wide range of chemicals from our personal care products and pharmaceuticals, as well as those that leach out of all manner of plastics that are floating in our seas. Agrochemicals are pouring into the oceans through rivers; in some cases these artificially fertilize coastal waters, generating blooms of algae which are broken down by bacteria, thus stripping the water of oxygen and creating dead zones.

Our release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), is leading to a profound disturbance in ocean temperatures and ocean chemistry. Since the late 1970s, mass coral bleaching from ocean warming has killed large areas of tropical coral reefs. Marine animals are changing their distribution and the timing of their lifecycles, sometimes with catastrophic effects across the wider ecosystem. Such effects are often propagated from lower levels of food webs up through to predators such as fish and seabirds: witness recent declines in spectacled sea duck populations in the Arctic and the decline of cod populations in the North Sea. The oceans are becoming more acidic, which affects the growth rates of animals with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons and has other negative impacts on animal physiology. Many of these different stresses on marine species interact in a form of "negative synergy", inducing more severe effects than if they had presented in isolation. At the ecosystem level these stresses reduce the resilience of marine ecosystems to "shocks" arising from large-scale effects, such as anomalous warming events associated with climate change.

Ocean future

The TEDTalks in The Deep Ocean illuminate many current topics in marine science and oceanic exploration. These include the call for better conservation management in the face of unprecedented threats to marine ecosystems, the discovery and application of as-yet-untapped natural resources from the ocean depths, and the quest for improved technologies to support both of these endeavors. As Sylvia Earle eloquently reminds us in her 2009 TEDTalk, the oceans are critically important to maintaining the planet in a condition that is habitable, and better cooperative, international management of marine ecosystems is essential. However, as other TED speakers like Robert Ballard and Craig Venter argue, the oceans should also interest us because they contain vast untapped resources: unexploited mineral resources as well as genes, proteins and other biomolecules of marine life, which may furnish the medicines and industrial materials of the future.

Smart management of these natural resources requires knowledge, as do our efforts to ensure the oceans' ongoing species richness and their critical function in maintaining the Earth system. In their TEDTalks, explorers and scientists Edith Widder, Mike deGruy and Craig Venter share some of the amazing physical and biological features of ocean habitats and describe how new technologies allow more careful study and exploitation of deep-sea environments.

Despite these advances, there are still enormous gaps in our knowledge. In a TEDTalk he gave in 2008, Robert Ballard noted that many parts of the ocean remain entirely unexplored and he advocated for increased resources for organizations like NOAA. As many of the TED speakers in The Deep Ocean argue, marine science is more important than ever because the oceans are under serious threat from a range of human impacts including global-scale climate change.

However, these speakers also offer a message of hope, underscoring that there is still time to alter the current trajectory of degradation. Scientists including TED speaker John Delaney present a vision for the future where ecosystem-based management, coupled with the advent of new technologies that allow us to monitor ocean health in real time, provide us with tools to heal marine ecosystems. This may allow us to restore their capacity to provide goods and services for humankind over the long term. Measures such as marine-protected areas can maintain the oceans' important biogeochemical functions, but will also conserve the remarkable and beautiful marine ecosystems that have culturally enriched the human experience for millennia.

We'll begin our journey into The Deep Ocean with legendary explorer and oceanographer Sylvia Earle, who shares disturbing data about the decline of marine ecosystems and proposes one method to protect what she calls "the blue heart of the planet."

Sylvia Earle

My wish: protect our oceans, relevant talks.

Mike deGruy

Hooked by an octopus.

David Gallo

Underwater astonishments.

Edith Widder

Glowing life in an underwater world.

Robert Ballard

The astonishing hidden world of the deep ocean.

Craig Venter

On the verge of creating synthetic life.

John Delaney

Wiring an interactive ocean.

104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best marine life topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on marine life, ⭐ simple & easy marine life essay titles.

• Marine Degradation and Solutions in the Pacific Region The second issue related to the degradation of marine resources in the Pacific region is the unsustainable use of marine resources, including destructive fishing, which leads to changes in the number and health of species.
• Ocean Pollution and the Fishing Industry In essence, the activities of over six billion people in the world are threatening the survival and quality of water found in the oceans, lakes and other inland water catchment areas. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Ocean Currents: General Information There are generally two types of ocean currents depending on the water level where the movement of oceanic water takes place and they are the deep ocean currents and the surface ocean currents.
• Sea Otters’ Life Cycle From Birth to Death However, after the species had almost become extinct and their protection began, the species began to recover and towards the close of the 20th century, conservation had given rise to tens of thousands of sea […]
• The Ocean Pollution Problem Overview Ocean pollution is the unfavorable upshot due to the entrance of chemicals and particulate substances into the ocean. The land is the key source of ocean pollution in the form of non-point water pollution.
• Climate Change Impacts on Ocean Life The destruction of the ozone layer has led to the exposure of the earth to harmful radiation from the sun. The rising temperatures in the oceans hinder the upward flow of nutrients from the seabed […]
• Living Resources of the Ocean The most commendable among the benefits of marine life to human life are the fact that marine life can act as food and the fact that some oceanic organisms have medicinal value.
• The Problem of Ocean Pollution in Modern World Wastes such as toxic matter, plastics, and human wastes are some of the major sources of pollution in the ocean. Many people consume fish as food; when marine life is affected by toxic substance in […]
• Deep Sea Volcanoes and their Effects Deep sea volcanoes are present under deep sea ridges of the ocean floor and the above research has been based on the amount of carbon dioxide that is present in depths of four kilometers on […]
• High Seas Marine Protected Areas: Effective Legislation or Paper Parks This essay dwells on the definition and importance of MPAs, including the ones in the high sea. The goal of the alliance is to bolster international collaboration and exchange of knowledge.
• The Impacts of Oil Spills on Marine Life The intensity of aquatic effects is influenced by the nature and extent of the spilt oil. Besides, the severity might be influenced by the sensitivity and ambient state of the pretentious marine and their surroundings […]
• Marine Surveying, Inspection and Safety Practices The importance of these conventions and rules was to address the need to access different ports in different countries based on uniform rules and standards acceptable to destination ports or countries in addition to maintaining […]
• Life in the Bottom of the Ocean and Its Protection While we all strive hard to detect and analyze the essence of life and the impact it has on our lives, we need to understand that life in itself is a big mystery, the truth […]
• Plastic Waste and Its Effects on Marine Life However, many people do not appreciate the importance of oceans to human and marine life. Another effect of microplastics on the marine community is that they lead to uneven distribution of organisms.
• The Aral Sea Problems, Their Causes and Consequences To identify and analyze the problems of the lake, its basin, and the entire region To discuss the causes and consequences of the lake’s destruction To evaluate the solutions proposed for ameliorating the consequences The […]
• Non-trophic Interaction in Marine Species An example of non-trophic relationships between marine species is decorator crabs and sponges. Decorator crabs and sponges’ relations are an example of mutually helpful non-trophic interaction mutualism.
• The Rising of Sea Level and Melting Glaciers: Analysis of the Issues In modern realities, the rate of warming of the World’s Oceans has increased. Global warming provokes the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica.
• Deep-Sea Currents and Upwelling Along Florida The thermohaline circulation influences the movement and population of the marine ecosystem and heat redistribution both in the sea and on the earth’s surface.
• The Aral Sea’s Environmental Issues Prior to its destruction, the Sea was one of the biggest water bodies, rich in different species of flora and fauna; a case that is opposite today, as the sea is almost becoming extinct.
• The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and Its Consequences The worst effects of the great wave were observed in Indonesia, where the death toll exceeded 160,000 people, and the overall damages almost reached $4.
• Marine Life in United Arab Emirates This report analyses the marine life in the UAE, covering detailed information about the various species of animals found in the region and their adaptation to the unique environment.
• Marine Parks Concept Overview In terms of marine tourism, aquatic parks offer the best solution for tourists because they are cheaper than watching animals in the sea.
• The Global Ocean Conveyor Belt This ocean water phenomenon is a result of the temperature difference in the ocean waters between the warm, salty surface water, and the less salty cold water in the ocean depths.
• Policy Change to Control Ocean Dumping Policies addressing the issue of ocean dumping and the need to curb it have been in place. Several factors fueled the change; for instance, change in the information concerning the effect of ocean dumping to […]
• Ocean Dumping Issue and Rhetorical Rationale Therefore, the goal of this paper is to prove that the poster in question manages to accomplish an impressive goal of subverting the audience’s expectation and encouraging them to shift from an ironic perception of […]
• The Negatives of Fossil Fuel: Ocean Acidification and Human Health The adverse effects of burning oil are hard to overestimate. Unless specific and practical actions are taken to address the issues of global climate change and pollution issues and reduce reliance on oil, the future […]
• Impacts of Climate Change on Ocean The development of phytoplankton is sensitive to the temperature of the ocean. Some marine life is leaving the ocean due to the rising water temperature.
• Exploring Environmental Issues: Marine Ecotourism For marine ecotourism to succeed, it must thrive in a manner that accommodates the needs of both the current and future generations and safeguards the natural environment.
• Autonomous Platforms in Marine Research One of the significant ideas that can increase the overall efficiency of the data collection process is the creation of networks of autonomous platforms.
• The Sea Water Impact on the Human Cell Hence, consuming it causes a high amount of salt without the human cell, which leads to a steep concentration gradient within the cell, thereby causing water to be drawn out, which is detrimental to the […]
• Ocean Sustainability and Human Economic Activity The world economy and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people depend on the ocean. It is important to remember that the misuse of water resources and the effects of global climate change will […]
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden The role of the ICZM in the control of environmental, transport, industrial, and other types of safety is high, and the example of the RSGA region proves this.
• Mining and Ocean Use in Canada Cobalt, nickel, manganese, and copper are among the metals deep seabed mining seeks to extract from the polymetallic nodules on the seafloor and seamounts.
• Addressing Marine Debris: Causes, Effects, and Potential Solutions A major limitation that makes the eradication of the problem difficult is the fact that most of the debris contains microplastic.
• Sea Foods in the Environment Protection Context Further, the purpose of the website is to give information that seeks to reward the efforts of people who protect and safeguard the ocean and seafood supplies such as lobsters.
• How Deep Sea Discoveries Inspires Professional Creativity Limited technological access to the deep seas should inspire one to focus on the necessary technology to build the most efficient deep-sea robots.
• Visiting San Francisco Bay as Marine Protected Area San Francisco Bay Bridge will become the central place for this trip because it is just in the center of this view.
• Habitat and Ocean Life Considerations of Bottlenose Dolphins The temperate and tropical oceans of the world are home to bottlenose dolphins. On the American continent, bottlenose dolphins can be seen along California’s southern beaches and the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts to Florida, and […]
• The Ocean Dumping Problem: A Visual Argument There is, however, less awareness of deep-sea drilling and the impacts on the habitat and human life in the oceans and along the coasts.
• Australia’s Endangered Diverse Marine Ecosystem Climate Change and population increase are becoming increasingly difficult to perceive distinctly, especially when the question is about the loss of a diverse marine environment.
• Marine Environment Protection and Management in the Shipping Industry Therefore, criminal penalties system in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency should reinforce legislations to protect sea creatures and humans from oil pollution or wastes from ships.
• Marine Creatures and Terrestrial Animals in “The Wild West: Gold Rush” In fact, Californian nature is rich in various animal species that live to survive and pass their genes to the offspring.
• Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 342 Such flows reduce the temperature of the planet’s core, change the composition of the foundation bedrock, and impact microorganism dispersion in the subterranean ecosystem.
• Ocean Circulation and Biogeography, Species Distribution, Invasive Species The concept of ocean circulation refers to the movements of water in the oceans and seas. Surface ocean currents carry water from the poles to the tropics, where it is heated, and, afterwards, this water […]
• “History of Ocean Basins” by Hess From the article it is vivid that the coming into being of oceans is subject to discussion since the previous knowledge is doubtful, and the existing framework is confusing.
• Plastic Ocean and Its Effect on the Ecosystem The purpose of this essay is to present science-based facts in support of the author’s words to convince the reader of the criticality of the ecological problem.
• Marine Protected Areas: Impact on Kelp Forest Recovery and Urchin Reduction The research aims to study the effectiveness of MPA for kelp forest recovery and urchin reduction. The research aims to study the effectiveness of MPA for kelp forest recovery and urchin reduction.
• Environmental Marine Ecosystems: Biological Invasions One of the biggest hypoxic zones in the US is in the Gulf of Mexico. The condition of water in the area caused the decline of the shrimp industry.
• Effect of Sea Water and Corrosion on Concrete On the other hand, substantial tautness, for instance due to meandering will shatter the tiny firm pattern, ending up in fracturing and disjointing of the concrete.
• How the Ocean Current Affect Animals’ Life in the Sea Depending on the strength of the ocean current, sea animals along the path are flown along with the water, and the animals are moved to new regions that are sometimes thousands of kilometers away causing […]
• Effects of Global Warming on Marine Life Global warming has adverse effects on the marine life. It has led to the extinction of some of the animals and living things and has been necessitated by human activities.
• Deep-Sea Biology: The Search for a Sea Monster This case study is about the attempts of Clyde Roper to find the giant squid. This canyon is known to be very deep and runs towards the Kermadec Trench which is also documented to be […]
• Bacterial Diseases of Marine Organisms The striped dolphin is a highly susceptible host of the bacteria and poses and the most potent reservoir and source of transmission of the infectious agent.
• Ecotoxicology: Toxic Wastes in the Marmara Sea The importance and actuality of the paper can not be exaggerated, as the problem of toxic wastes is one of the most burning in Europe.
• How Climate Change Impacts Ocean Temperature and Marine Life The ocean’s surface consumes the excess heat from the air, which leads to significant issues in all of the planet’s ecosystems.
• Dell’s Initiative to Recycle Ocean-Bound Plastics The innovation to use plastics from the ocean and areas where these materials had a high risk of moving to the water was presented to the company in 2015.
• Intergovernmental Relations and Ocean Policy Change The administration of Ronald Reagan contributed to the Federal ocean policy in the 1980s. During this change, analysts believed the United States was making a shift from ocean protection of the 1970s to ocean management […]
• Improving the Response to Marine Emergencies However, we still need to facilitate this process, for instance, by informing the National Fire Service about the implementation of this project and its results. These are the most objectives that have to be attained […]
• A Benchmarking Biodiversity Survey of the Inter-Tidal Zone at Goat Island Bay, Leigh Marine Laboratory Within each quadrant, the common species were counted or, in the case of seaweed and moss, proliferation estimated as a percentage of the quadrant occupied.
• Ocean Circulation in a Warming Climate These effects will enhance the development of reduced release of radio-carbon depleted carbon dioxide gas and thus the idea of the self-restoration mechanism of the earth to this global warming.
• Protected Marine Areas: Great Barrier Reef To protect the Great Barrier Reef the administration has put in place several policies to protect this region. In this plan, A panel of scientists was to advise on the quality of waste.
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion The warm seawater is carried into a chamber and is used to produce vapor that, in turn, is used to rotate a turbine.
• Review of the Quaternary History of Reefs in the Red Sea With Reference to Past Sea-Level Changes Some of the changes have occurred on the very grandest of scales, such as the Merging and ensuing breaking up of huge supercontinents, or the decimation of the dinosaurs by extra-terrestrial impacts.reefs are not invulnerable […]
• Radiocarbon C14 Dating in Marine Geology The radiocarbon technique can say to be one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, especially in the field of human science.
• Marine Biology: Polar Oceans as an Eco System The water in and around the Antarctic continent is referred to as the Antarctic or Southern Ocean. The Atlantic Water is situated between the Arctic Surface Water and the Arctic Deep Water.
• Marine Pollution: Management and International Legislation Marine environment refers to: the physical, chemical, geological and biological components, conditions and factors which interact and determine the productivity of, state, condition and quality of the marine ecosystem, the waters of the seas and […]
• Marine Pollution: Sources, Types, Pathways, and Status By examining sources, types, pathways, and status of water contamination in the context of the World Ocean, it is clear that most marine pollution caused by human actions, especially the mismanagement of plastic debris.
• Concerns of Ocean Ecosystem Pollution The range of adverse outcomes for ocean ecosystems can be discussed in volumes; however, the current discussion will focus on trash in the ocean waters, acidification, and the disruption of the marine life cycles.
• Hudson River’s Ocean Floor Investigation Mapping the ocean floor of the Hudson River would enable the analysis of sediments and the bottom surface hardness as well as would provide data on bottom features and the depth of the river.
• Port Philip Bay and Sea Levels in Australia’s Geological History As the scientist explains, the phenomenon of the port’s emergence in the dry environment can be attributed to the fact that considerable water shrinkage could be observed in the area roughly 1,000 years ago.
• Geology: Port Phillip Bay and Sea Level Changes Specifically, the fossils of specific creatures, such as the shells of tertiary foraminifera, as well as the meanders of the river channels, which were located in the area, are bound to bolster the hypothesis suggested […]
• Marine Algae Associated Bacteria as Antioxidants The antinociceptive activity analysis involved comparing the reaction time of mice treated with the extracts and the controls. The authors conclude that the isolation and characterization of the bioactive principles from the potent strains could […]
• Ocean-Plate Tectonics and Geology Bathymetry of the ocean seafloor refers to the measurement of how deep the sea is in relation to the sea level.
• “Manifest Destiny”: Westward Expansion to the Pacific Ocean The concept of Manifest Destiny elucidates the states of mind of many expansionist principle makers of the period who worked hard in an attempt to push America’s borders towards the west.
• Impact of Sea Transport on the Aquatic Environment The shipping companies also have a serious impact on the maritime environment in terms of the wastes often released into the water.
• Climate Change Effects on Ocean Acidification The scientists realized that the crisis lasted for several millennia before the oceans could fully recover from the impacts of the drop in the pH level.
• Marine Geology, Hydrology and Human Impact on Earth However, the implementation of the new technologies and practices in the process of investigation of the sea depths resulted in the appearance of the new meaning.
• Marine Ecosystems, Human Dependence and Impact The growth of communities dependent on fishing is proportional to the destruction of marine ecosystems. The survival of the human race, and the survival of millions of species of wildlife is dependent on a healthy […]
• The Northern Sea Route’ Safety Management The company discusses the opportunity to trade some of the vessels with the help of the NSR. The NSR is discussed as an attractive option to decrease the time spent in the voyage while comparing […]
• Water Crisis, Oceans and Sea Turtles Issues In the case of Mexico, it appears that the past regimes have never put a lot of focus on the utilization of water resources.
• National Marine Fishery Service Business Projects Within a fishery management context, the report primarily focuses on the provisions of the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act issues in 2006.
• The Dead Sea Geochemical History Globally, the most saline location is found on the water surfaces and shores of the Dead Sea. On the other hand, the pattern of fluctuation in temperature and salinity in the Arctic Ocean is complex.
• SOFAR Effects on the Marine Life The speed and energy of the sounds that are transmitted in the SOFAR channel are maintained without being altered because of the pressure, which increases with increase in depth.
• Ocean Acidification Impact on the Sea Urchin Larval Growth Due to the carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere, acidity in the oceans is increasing++ and a fast increase of change rate is experienced.
• Deep Sea Mining: Salt Extraction This therefore shows how important the process of evaporation is in regard to extraction of salt from the sea. This therefore explains that sea water is a cheap source of salt in terms of time […]
• Pacific Ocean: Essentials of Oceanography The ocean has about 25,000 islands which are in excess of the entire number islands in all the oceans across the world. The volume of water in the ocean is about 622 million km3.
• Marine Pollution and the Anthropogenic Effects Upon It Marine pollution denotes the introduction of harmful materials or chemicals in our oceans which may disrupt the marine ecosystem, cause other harmful effects to marine life or change the chemical properties of the water.
• Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Impure Public Goods The fact that the issue concerning the global marine biodiversity and the effects that impure public goods may possibly have on these rates can lead to the development of a range of externalities that should […]
• El Niño’s Effects on Marine Life El Nino makes the winds of the east blow to the west and moves the layers of warm water in the Pacific Ocean.
• Marine Ecosystems in Oceanography Studies While oceanography students need to understand these aspects of ocean management, this paper focused on marine ecosystems, as a broad and useful topic in oceanography studies.
• Ocean Acidification: Marine Calcification Process This article correlates calcium with oceanography because the process of acidification, which causes the ocean’s pH to decrease because of excess carbon from the atmosphere, has impacts on calcifying organisms in the oceans.
• Ecology Issues: Creatures of the Deep Sea Discuss the negative changes that are occurring and the cause of these changes In the recent past, the temperature on the earth has been rising steadily due to the effect of global warming.
• Ocean Literacy and Exploration From the onset of “human-ocean interaction and exploration in the fifteenth century” and despite ocean being the largest feature of the earth, only 5% of the ocean is known.
• Ocean and Atmosphere Circulation Oceanic and atmospheric circulation is the means by which heat is distributed on the surface of the Earth by large scale circulation of air.
• The Role of Sea Power in International Trade The historical influence that the marines or the navy has had on international trade and the complications in comparing measures of sea power has been issues of discussion in the past.
• Ocean Fisheries Sustainability Analysis It is necessary for fishing industries to use better fishing methods in the ocean to ensure that their activities do not endanger the ecological balance. Fish species do not get the chance to replenish and […]
• Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Reefs This essay addresses some of the disturbances which have been experienced in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary together with measures which have been implemented to salvage the ecosystem.
• Marine Conservation and Coastal Development The committee should comprise of a balanced membership for holistic review of the coastal development projects. The lack of legislation related to marine conservation is also a major setback.
• Plastic Ocean Pollution on Ocean Life in U.S. Ocean plastic pollution has had a great impact on a minimum of two hundred and sixty seven species across the world and these include forty three percent of all of the sea mammal species, eighty […]
• Impact of the Toxic Substances on Marine Ecosystem The condition of hypoxia is created when algal biomass decompose leading to dissolution of oxygen in the water column. While, on the other hand, farming of Bluefin tuna leads to destruction of marine life as […]
• Climate Shift Could Leave Some Marine Species Homeless This is very important as it helps put pressure on countries to reduce on carbon release, in order to conserve the environment and hence species at risk.
• The Difficulties in Exploiting Sea Floor Massive Sulfide Deposits However, the difficulties involved in exploring the minerals have been the greatest obstacles to the full exploration of sea floor mineral deposits such as sulphide. The regulatory environment is the other issue of concern in […]
• Global Warming Outcomes and Sea-Level Changes The outcome of global warming has been exhibited by the melting of ice and snows in areas such as the Antarctic which has changed the average sea level of the whole world because the ice […]
• The Ocean’s Rarest Mammal Vaquita – An Endangered Species The vaquita looks like a curved stocky porpoise, and it is the smallest of all the porpoises in the world. This is a matter of concern and ought to be investigated if the survival of […]
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/marine-life-essay-topics/

"104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 29 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/marine-life-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 29 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/marine-life-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/marine-life-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "104 Marine Life Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/marine-life-essay-topics/.

• Noise Pollution Essay Titles
• Ocean Pollution Titles
• Water Pollution Research Topics
• Oceanography Research Ideas
• Wildlife Ideas
• Zoo Research Ideas
• Ocean Research Ideas
• Coral Reef Essay Topics
• Hunting Questions
• Moby Dick Questions
• Landfill Essay Titles
• Pollution Essay Ideas
• Tsunami Essay Ideas
• Biodiversity Research Topics
• Fishing Research Topics

Articles on Marine biology

Displaying 1 - 20 of 173 articles.

Climate change is causing marine ‘coldwaves’ too, killing wildlife

Nicolas Benjamin Lubitz , James Cook University and David Schoeman , University of the Sunshine Coast

Sex, birth and whalesong: life on the humpback highway

Vanessa Pirotta , Macquarie University

As climate change and pollution imperil coral reefs, scientists are deep-freezing corals to repopulate future oceans

Mary Hagedorn , Smithsonian Institution

How do halibut migrate? Clues are in their ear bones

Charlotte Gauthier , Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)

Surviving fishing gear entanglement isn’t enough for endangered right whales – females still don’t breed afterward

Joshua Reed , Macquarie University ; Leslie New , Ursinus College ; Peter Corkeron , Griffith University , and Rob Harcourt , Macquarie University

Rare access to hammerhead shark embryos reveals secrets of its unique head development

Gareth J. Fraser , University of Florida

‘Jaws’ portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists

Gavin Naylor , University of Florida

Not all underwater reefs are made of coral − the US has created artificial reefs from sunken ships, radio towers, boxcars and even voting machines

Avery Paxton , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and D'amy Steward , University of Guam

I set out to investigate where silky sharks travel − and by chance documented a shark’s amazing power to regenerate its sabotaged fin

Chelsea Black , University of Miami

What happens to the ocean if we take out all the fish? A marine ecologist explains the complex roles fish play in their ecosystem

Kory Evans , Rice University

Shipwrecks teem with underwater life, from microbes to sharks

Avery Paxton , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

As seas get warmer, tropical species are moving further from the equator

Karolina Zarzyczny , University of Southampton

Australian dolphins have the world’s highest concentrations of ‘forever chemicals’

Chantel Foord , RMIT University

Oxygen in the St. Lawrence Estuary is decreasing – and having a major impact on small animals living there

Ludovic Pascal , Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) and Gwénaëlle Chaillou , Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)

As the US begins to build offshore wind farms, scientists say many questions remain about impacts on the oceans and marine life

Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod , University of South Carolina ; Douglas Nowacek , Duke University ; Eileen E. Hofmann , Old Dominion University , and Josh Kohut , Rutgers University

Fieldwork can be challenging for female scientists. Here are 5 ways to make it better

Sarah Hamylton , University of Wollongong ; Ana Vila Concejo , University of Sydney ; Hannah Power , University of Newcastle , and Shari L Gallop , University of Waikato

Nigeria’s new blue economy ministry could harness marine resources - moving the focus away from oil

Isa Olalekan Elegbede , Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg

Whales stop singing and rock lobsters lose their balance: how seismic surveys can harm marine life

Ryan Day , University of Tasmania ; Jayson Semmens , University of Tasmania , and Robert McCauley , Curtin University

Secrets of the Octopus Garden: Moms nest at thermal springs to give their young the best chance for survival

Amanda Kahn , San José State University and Jim Barry , San José State University

The secret lives of silky sharks: unveiling their whereabouts supports their protection

Shona Murray , The University of Western Australia and Jessica Meeuwig , The University of Western Australia

Related Topics

• Biodiversity
• Climate change
• Conservation
• Coral reefs
• Marine conservation
• Marine ecosystems
• Marine life

Top contributors

Professor, Macquarie University

Professor, The University of Western Australia

Faculty Research Associate in Marine Biology, Arizona State University

Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research Institute

Distinguished Professor of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Assistant Professor, University of Rhode Island

Postdoctoral associate, University of Florida

Professor in marine ecology, UNSW Sydney

PhD Researcher in Marine Ecology, University of Exeter

Professor, Marine Biology, University of Adelaide

Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Sheffield

Founding Professor of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research centre, The University of Western Australia

Lecturer and Researcher in Behavioural ecology and Cephalopod Biology, Anglia Ruskin University

Assistant Professor of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University

Professor of Biology and Director, Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii

• X (Twitter)
• Unfollow topic Follow topic

Marine Biology

Marine biology essays and blog.

Letter from Bonaire: A Coral Paradise Forever? Special 911 22th Anniversary: 911 Heroes and Environmental Heroes A Movable Feast: Climate Change Forces Seafood to Higher Latitudes and Deeper Waters Did U.S. Government Science Agencies Respond Too Slowly to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? Marine Biology Blog: Our Obsession with the Oil Coral Reef Crisis: A Summary “Climategate”: is Global Warming a Hoax? A look at some ocean data off the beaten path CHARLES DARWIN: GREATEST MARINE BIOLOGIST, AN ESSAY Review of “A Sea Change”, a movie about ocean acidification

Marine Biology

International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters

Marine Biology is an international journal publishing original contributions from all fields of marine biology.

• Highlights research promoting understanding of life in the sea, organism-environment interactions, and marine biosphere functioning.
• Welcomes method articles, reviews, comments, and highlight articles of exceptional significance.
• Includes a diverse and international editorial board with expertise in many different specialties.
• No page charges or color illustration charges, with an average online publication time of 20 days upon acceptance.

This is a transformative journal , you may have access to funding.

• Ulrich Sommer

Latest articles

Divergence between sea urchins and their microbiota following speciation.

• Tyler J. Carrier
• Guillaume Schwob
• Adam M. Reitzel

Morphological insights into the three-dimensional complexity of rhodolith beds

• Andrea Cabrito
• Silvia de Juan
• Francesc Maynou

Effect of salinity on the bioluminescence intensity of the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans and Polykrikos kofoidii and the autotrophic dinoflagellate Alexandrium mediterraneum

• Sang Ah Park
• Hae Jin Jeong
• Moo Joon Lee

Ecological implications and seasonal variability of grazing by marine copepods on phytoplankton: comparison between Acartia omorii and A . steueri in Jangmok Bay, Korea

• Seo Yeol Choi
• Eun Hye Lee
• Ho Young Soh

From route to dive: multi-scale habitat selection in a foraging tropical seabird

• Ruth E. Dunn
• Robin Freeman
• Stephen C. Votier

Journal updates

Topical collections, call for papers: topical collection global change and interactions within marine pelagic food webs: current trends and future perspectives.

Read articles that were published in this Collection.

Guidelines for Reviewers

Journal information.

• Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
• Biological Abstracts
• CAB Abstracts
• Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
• Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences
• Engineering Village – GEOBASE
• Google Scholar
• Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST)
• Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals and Series
• OCLC WorldCat Discovery Service
• Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
• TD Net Discovery Service
• UGC-CARE List (India)
• Zoological Record

Rights and permissions

Springer policies

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts

Marine biology articles within Scientific Reports

Article 03 May 2024 | Open Access

The global significance of Scleractinian corals without photoendosymbiosis

• , S. Nakagawa
•  &  T. D. Ainsworth

Environmental DNA as a tool to reconstruct catch composition for longline fisheries vessels

• M. E. Green
• , B. D. Hardesty
•  &  C. Wilcox

Article 29 April 2024 | Open Access

Influence of sipunculan (peanut worm) activity on orifice formation in scleractinian Heterocyathus for adaptation to soft substrates

• Yuki Tokuda
• , Shuya Kawakita
•  &  Susumu Ohtsuka

Article 26 April 2024 | Open Access

The southernmost Errina antarctica hydrocoral savannah in Patagonian waters

• Ana De la Torriente
• , Ingrid M. Espinoza-León
•  &  Alberto Serrano

Article 25 April 2024 | Open Access

Edge computing based real-time Nephrops ( Nephrops norvegicus ) catch estimation in demersal trawls using object detection models

• Ercan Avsar
• , Jordan P. Feekings
•  &  Ludvig Ahm Krag

Article 24 April 2024 | Open Access

Effects of aquaculture effluents on the slender sea pen Virgularia mirabilis

• Bastien Taormina
• , Tina Kutti
•  &  Erwann Legrand

Article 23 April 2024 | Open Access

Exposure to environmental pharmaceuticals affects the macromolecular composition of mussels digestive glands

• Marica Mezzelani
• , Valentina Notarstefano
•  &  Francesco Regoli

Circumtropical distribution and cryptic species of the meiofaunal enteropneust Meioglossus (Harrimaniidae, Hemichordata)

• Éloïse Defourneaux
• , Maria Herranz
•  &  Katrine Worsaae

Article 18 April 2024 | Open Access

Corals survive severe bleaching event in refuges related to taxa, colony size, and water depth

• Erin M. Winslow
• , Kelly E. Speare
•  &  Hunter S. Lenihan

Article 17 April 2024 | Open Access

ReScape : transforming coral-reefscape images for quantitative analysis

• , E. Ribeiro
•  &  R. van Woesik

Article 15 April 2024 | Open Access

Establishing an astaxanthin-rich live feed strain of Pseudodiaptomus annandalei

• , Yen-Ju Pan
•  &  Gaël Dur

Article 10 April 2024 | Open Access

AI-driven remote sensing enhances Mediterranean seagrass monitoring and conservation to combat climate change and anthropogenic impacts

• Masuma Chowdhury
• , Alejo Martínez-Sansigre
•  &  Ignacio de la Calle

Article 28 March 2024 | Open Access

Dietary tryptophan intervention counteracts stress-induced transcriptional changes in a teleost fish HPI axis during inflammation

• Diogo Peixoto
• , Inês Carvalho
•  &  Rita Azeredo

Article 27 March 2024 | Open Access

Spatial and temporal variation in surface nitrate and phosphate in the Northern Gulf of Mexico over 35 years

• Kailani G. Acosta
• , Andrew R. Juhl
•  &  Solange Duhamel

Article 22 March 2024 | Open Access

The embryo-oil drop assembly: the timing and morphology of a critical event for fish early-life history survival

• Manuel Nande
• , Montse Pérez
•  &  Pablo Presa

Article 20 March 2024 | Open Access

Oxytoxaceae are prorocentralean rather than peridinialean dinophytes and taxonomic clarification of heterotrophic Oxytoxum lohmannii (≡ “ Amphidinium ” crassum ) by epitypification

• Marc Gottschling
• , Stephan Wietkamp
•  &  Urban Tillmann

Article 19 March 2024 | Open Access

Subsurface temperature estimates from a Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) reanalysis provide accurate coral heat stress indices across the Main Hawaiian Islands

• Jessica N. Perelman
• , Kisei R. Tanaka
•  &  Brian S. Powell

Article 16 March 2024 | Open Access

Animal-borne soundscape logger as a system for edge classification of sound sources and data transmission for monitoring near-real-time underwater soundscape

• Takuji Noda
• , Takuya Koizumi
•  &  Takeshi Hara

Article 15 March 2024 | Open Access

Mapping the habitat refugia of Isidella elongata under climate change and trawling impacts to preserve Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the Mediterranean

• Vincent Georges
• , Sandrine Vaz
•  &  Valentina Lauria

Article 14 March 2024 | Open Access

Fruit encasing preserves the dispersal potential and viability of stranded Posidonia oceanica seeds

• Alberto Sutera
• , Chiara Bonaviri
•  &  Roberto De Michele

Article 13 March 2024 | Open Access

Divergent bacterial landscapes: unraveling geographically driven microbiomes in Atlantic cod

• Fanny Fronton
• , Richard Villemur
•  &  Yves St-Pierre

Article 12 March 2024 | Open Access

Integration of population genetics with oceanographic models reveals strong connectivity among coral reefs across Seychelles

• April J. Burt
• , Noam Vogt-Vincent
•  &  Lindsay A. Turnbull

Article 09 March 2024 | Open Access

High Arctic “hotspots” for sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) off western and northern Svalbard, Norway, revealed by multi-year Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)

• Viivi Pöyhönen
• , Karolin Thomisch
•  &  Heidi Ahonen

Article 07 March 2024 | Open Access

Study of the influence of tributyrin-supplemented diets on the gut bacterial communities of rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss )

• , F. J. R. C. Coelho
•  &  N. C. M. Gomes

Article 06 March 2024 | Open Access

Characterization of polychaetes inhabiting estuaries and inner bays by composition analysis of amino acids and lactate enantiomers

• Mayu Onozato
• , Wataru Shinohara
•  &  Takeshi Fukushima

Article 05 March 2024 | Open Access

Underwater image restoration based on dual information modulation network

•  &  Zhaoxin Yue

Article 17 February 2024 | Open Access

Diatom-mediated food web functioning under ocean artificial upwelling

• Silvan Urs Goldenberg
• , Carsten Spisla
•  &  Ulf Riebesell

Article 14 February 2024 | Open Access

Spatial and economic quantification of provisioning service by eelgrass beds in Lake Notoro, Hokkaido, Japan

• , Shiori Sonoki
•  &  Kazushi Miyashita

Article 13 February 2024 | Open Access

Irradiance driven trophic plasticity in the coral Madracis pharensis from the Eastern Mediterranean

• Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley
• , Stephane Martinez
•  &  Tali Mass

Fin whale song characteristics and potential subpopulation identity in the New York Bight

• Carissa D. King-Nolan
• , Melinda L. Rekdahl
•  &  Howard C. Rosenbaum

Article 05 February 2024 | Open Access

eDNA based bycatch assessment in pelagic fish catches

• Paulina Urban
• , Magnus Wulff Jacobsen
•  &  Einar Eg Nielsen

Article 26 January 2024 | Open Access

The non-selective Antarctic filter feeder Salpa thompsoni as a bioindicator of mercury origin

• Adriana Wojdasiewicz
• , Anna Panasiuk
•  &  Magdalena Bełdowska

Article 22 January 2024 | Open Access

Assessing acute thermal assays as a rapid screening tool for coral restoration

• C. N. Klepac
• , C. G. Petrik
•  &  E. M. Muller

Article 19 January 2024 | Open Access

Toxicity of herbicides to the marine microalgae Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis sp.

• Florita Flores
• , Laura S. Stapp
•  &  Andrew P. Negri

Insights into planktonic food-web dynamics through the lens of size and season

• Carolina Giraldo
• , Pierre Cresson
•  &  Sébastien Lefebvre

Article 12 January 2024 | Open Access

Statistically downscaled CMIP6 ocean variables for European waters

• Trond Kristiansen
• , Momme Butenschön
•  &  Myron A. Peck

Article 11 January 2024 | Open Access

A negative biological Indian Ocean dipole event in 2022

•  &  Menghua Wang

Article 09 January 2024 | Open Access

A first report on prokaryotic diversity in northwestern Arafura deep-sea sediments, Indonesia

• Yosmina Tapilatu
• , Ihsan Fauzan
•  &  Ali Budhi Kusuma

Multidisciplinary estimates of connectivity and population structure suggest the use of multiple units for the conservation and management of meagre, Argyrosomus regius

• D. Abecasis
•  &  J. Assis

Article 08 January 2024 | Open Access

Substantial kelp detritus exported beyond the continental shelf by dense shelf water transport

• Mirjam van der Mheen
• , Thomas Wernberg
•  &  Karen Filbee-Dexter

Article 02 January 2024 | Open Access

Diversity, habitat endemicity and trophic ecology of the fauna of Loki’s Castle vent field on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge

• Mari Heggernes Eilertsen
• , Jon Anders Kongsrud
•  &  Rolf Birger Pedersen

Article 19 December 2023 | Open Access

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) source identification and a maternal transfer case study in threatened killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) of British Columbia, Canada

• , Stephen Raverty
•  &  Juan José Alava

Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access

Temporal patterns of fucoxanthin in four species of European marine brown macroalgae

• Eoghan M. Cunningham
• , Aaron P. O’Kane
•  &  Pamela J. Walsh

Article 09 December 2023 | Open Access

Insights from the 2-year-long human confinement experiment in Grand Cayman reveal the resilience of coral reef fish communities

• Jack V. Johnson
• , Alex D. Chequer
•  &  Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley

Article 08 December 2023 | Open Access

DNA metabarcoding focusing on the plankton community: an effective approach to reconstruct the paleo-environment

• Yasuhide Nakamura
• , Eri Ogiso-Tanaka
•  &  Yoshiki Saito

Article 07 December 2023 | Open Access

Increase of nesting habitat suitability for green turtles in a warming Mediterranean Sea

• Chiara Mancino
• , Sandra Hochscheid
•  &  Luigi Maiorano

Article 02 December 2023 | Open Access

Growth performance, gut microbiota composition, health and welfare of European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) fed an environmentally and economically sustainable low marine protein diet in sea cages

• Sébastien Alfonso
• , Elena Mente
•  &  Pierluigi Carbonara

Article 30 November 2023 | Open Access

Assessment of the utility of underwater hyperspectral imaging for surveying and monitoring coral reef ecosystems

• Matthew S. Mills
• , Mischa Ungermann
•  &  Tom Schils

Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access

Salpa genome and developmental transcriptome analyses reveal molecular flexibility enabling reproductive success in a rapidly changing environment

• Kate R. Castellano
• , Paola Batta-Lona
•  &  Rachel J. O’Neill

Article 17 November 2023 | Open Access

Mitigation of PWR fuel assembly vibrations using bio-inspired nozzles

• Ibrahim Gad-el-Hak
• , Njuki Mureithi
•  &  Brian Painter

Browse broader subjects

• Ocean sciences

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

128 Marine Life Biology Topics

Want to explore marine life? The captivating world of oceans and seas is full of marine biology research questions. Here, find marine biology topics about an array of species and habitats, the balance of Earth’s environment, and invaluable resources to humanity. Get inspired by marine ecosystems and the challenges they face due to human activities. Let’s dive in!

🌊 TOP 7 Marine Biology Topics

🏆 best marine biology research questions, 🎓 interesting marine biology topics, 👍 catchy marine biology research topics, 💡 simple marine biology topics, ❓ more marine biology research questions.

• Rising Sea Levels: History, Causes and Effects
• North Sea and Baltic Sea Meeting Phenomenon
• Chilean Sea Bass on the Menu and Its Impact on the Environment
• Resolute Marine Energy: Power in Waves
• Protection of Marine Environment Under International Law: Treaties and International Legal Instruments
• Marine Pollution: Causes and Consequences
• Marine Pollution in Australia
• Impact of Human Activities on Marine Ecosystems The main negative impact of human activities on these ecosystems is the drastic change in oxygen levels caused by industrial pollution.
• Rising Sea Levels: Solutions to Global Concern Global changes in climate have had tangible effects on numerous habitats and their biota. An increase in sea levels is one of the most infamous outcomes of global warming.
• Ocean Research vs. Outer Space Exploration Both the study of the outer space and the research of the processes that take place on Earth, particularly, in the ocean, are crucial for facilitating the safety of the humankind.
• The Problem of Ocean Pollution Today One of the main causes of the oceans being polluted is trash that includes various manufactured products like plastic bottles, shopping bags, food wrappers, and cigarettes.
• Sea Dumping: Legal and Ethical Issues The paper explores legal and ethical issues regarding the sea dumping and examines the approaches used by cruise lines to increase the social responsibility.
• Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea: Captain Nemo’s Changes Captain Nemo is a sea researcher, inventor, and owner of the “Nautilus” submarine. This character is the embodiment of a true hero, courageous, decisive, and fair.
• History of Sea Navigation This paper includes a brief description of major milestones in the history of navigation starting from ancient times up to modern days.
• Floating Cities and Rising Sea Levels Global warming is an immense challenge in today’s society. The results of such an issue are the rising sea levels that make many communities flee their homes.
• The Turtle-Headed Sea Snake’s Habitation Areas The paper aims to know the exact areas that turtle-headed sea snakes inhabit and quantify the number of such species within that vicinity.
• Environmental Issues: Plastics in the Ocean The circular economy encourages recycling and reuse and this approach could be used effectively to mitigate the problem of plastic marine pollution in the long term.
• Marine Sediments Types: Lithogenous, Biogenous, Hydrogenous, and Cosmogenous Sediments Modern science determines four basic types of sediments. These are lithogenous, biogenous, hydrogenous, and cosmogenous. They all have unique characteristics that determine their structure.
• Description of the Pacific Ocean The paper states that the Pacific Ocean is tranquil, yet it forms one of the world’s largest homes and assists in regulating the global climate.
• How El Niño Affects Ocean Circulation and How Climate Is Impacted Climate change research has progressed to the point that paleoclimatic data may now provide trustworthy information on the responses of the climate system.
• Marine Transport System Efficiency Increasing The paper takes an in-depth look into the steps and measures that can be taken to enhance the efficiency of maritime transport. Such strategies can be used to avert the looming transport crisis.
• Marine Resource Economics: Value Addition on Tuna Fish By-Products There is a very huge potential for value addition to by-products of Tuna fish around the countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean which is untapped.
• Sea Level Rise: Major Causes and Effects This paper includes a brief description of the major causes and effects of sea level rise, as well as measures people undertake to address the issue.
• Analysis of Sea Lampreys Problem Sea lampreys reduce the fish population, which affects the livelihoods of people. They negatively influence economic activities such as tourism and fishing in lakes.
• Saudi Marine Construction Projects and Risks The Saudi Arabian marine construction works revolve around the establishment of ports and harbors. The ports must be constructed to facilitate tourist arrival.
• International Marine Pollution Law International Marine law is essential in governing the natural resources from illegal acts of pollution that poses dangers to marine life and the life depending on the waters of oceans or seas.
• The Impact of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Agents on Marine Mammals The development of ecosystems is affected by various physical, biological, and chemical agents, and these effects can be both positive and negative.
• Marine Pollution and Its Anthropogenic Factors This paper examines the causes of the environmental problem of marine pollution, primarily related to anthropogenic factors, and considers its consequences.
• West Indian Ocean Coelacanth (Latimeria Chalumnae) Latimeria Chalumnae is an exception – a living fossil and a fish that is closer to tetrapods, including humans, rather than to the ray-finned fish, from an evolutionary standpoint.
• The Raising of Sea Levels in Lithuania This study will explore climate change in Lithuania, providing ways in which a global citizen can help and the role of NGOs in elevating the issue.
• Earth Science: The Deep Sea This article discusses the importance of the marine environment to life on the planet and the need to study the impact of deep-sea mining on the marine environment.
• Marine Biology: Description and the Key Features Marine Biology is an open area of the coast line that is exposed to ocean currents and tides. This is a backwater area with occasional flooding of sea water.
• The WWF’s Environmental Advertisement on Marine and Ocean Pollution Visual image can also make a convincing point, and this is particularly applicable to social and environmental advertising.
• Aquaculture: Second Chance for Marine Life
• How the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Affected Marine Life in the Surrounding Waters
• Marine Pollution and Its Effect on Marine Life
• Not Finding Nemo: How Climate Change Affects Marine Life
• Environmental Degradation: Primitive Organisms vs Modern Day Marine Life
• Marine Life and Its Systematic Evolution
• Human Impact Upon the Environment: Ocean Pollution and Marine Life
• Marine Life, Ocean Pollution, and Other Human Environmental Impacts
• How You Can Help Protect Marine Life While Diving
• Global Marine Life Affected by the Constant Rise of Water Temperature Due to Global Warming
• 10 Easy Ways to Help Protect Marine Life
• How the Plate Tectonics Theory Help Explains the Existence of Fossilized Marine Life in Rocks Atop the Ural Mountains
• Global Warming and Climate Change: Melting the Marine Life
• Understanding the Detrimental Effects of Harmful Algae in the Scientific Study of Marine Life
• The Alarming Danger Facing the Marine Life
• Humans’ Impact on Marine Life and What We Can Do to Stop Environmental Cataclysmic Effect
• How Water Pollution Affects Marine Life
• Marine Life: Environments and Marine Animals in the Deep Sea
• The Coral Reef Ecosystem: Marine Life and Surviving Underwater
• Mass Extinction, Human Impact, and Effects on Marine Life
• How Human Beings Have Destroyed Marine Life
• Plastic Crises in the Ocean and Effects on Marine Ecosystems The accumulation of plastic waste in the oceans causes physical damage to marine species and habitats, leading to the spread of invasive species and diseases.
• Teleological Insight Into Army of Sea Urchins The teleological argumentative construct focuses on the relationship between the design and the creator akin to the apt performance across the sea’s natural environment.
• Impact of Human Behavior on Ocean and Ocean Acidification The paper states that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has been increasing over the years due to human behavior and actions.
• The Ocean Clean Up Company’s Trial in Guatemala Ocean Clean Up has done an excellent job of creating the first scalable solution to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches the oceans.
• Cyclone Asani in the North Indian Ocean Area Asani is the first cyclone to develop in the North Indian Ocean area of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in 2022.
• The Aral Sea Shrinking Process The Aral Sea is located in Central Asia, and it is a form of a large endorheic lake. The issue surrounding the given body of water is that it has been shrinking since the 1960s.
• The Importance of Marine Spatial Planning The paper states that improvements in marine spatial planning (MSP) can positively impact the economy, society, and the environment.
• The Climate Change Impact on Sea Levels and Coastal Zones This paper summarizes the effects of climate change on seawater levels and subsequent effects on the coastal zones.
• Dangers of Microplastics to Marine Ecosystems To reduce aquatic pollution and its impact, people should keep the environment clean by disposing wisely of the plastics they use.
• Impact of Marine Plastic Debris on Environment The prevalence of marine pollution by plastics makes the ecosystem dangerous for ocean creatures and human beings.
• Papahanaumokuakea Plastic Sea Pollution This paper discusses the article devoted to the plastic sea pollution affecting Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monuments.
• The Consequences of the Ocean Acidification The paper aims to explore the phenomena of ocean acidification and define human-caused threats to the health of the world ocean and the corresponding consequences.
• Marine Organisms an Adaptations The important aspects of marine biology is the study of how marine organisms exhibit a variety of physiological adaptation that makes them suitable for the marine environment.
• Whirlpool in the Sea off the Coast of Scotland Near Ayrshire Due to Waste Water Stunning drone images near Lendalfoot in South Ayrshire captured a glimpse of a mammoth whirlpool off the Scottish west coast.
• Trans-ocean Transportation: Environmental Study The ocean has always been an inseparable part of human existence. It serves as a source of food and a transportation network, linking all continents.
• Modelling in the Marine Environment With climate change rendering hurricanes more deadly, it is essential to gain a more in-depth understanding of such phenomenon as storm surge.
• Marine Protected Areas: Sustain of the Marine Ecosystem The current research is expected to address the problem of overfishing and prove that MPAs help to sustain biodiversity.
• Plastic Contamination and Marine Ecosystem Safety Every year humanity creates innovative technologies, some of which have the potential to change the order of life fundamentally.
• Marine Habitats: Coral Reef Ecosystem The coral reefs’ biodiversity presents a specific interest as one of the most stressed world’s ecosystems with an intricate relationship.
• Marine Environmental High Risk Areas Definition Marine Environmental High risk Areas was first used by Lord Donaldson in Report titled Safe Ships, Clean Seas.He defined these areas as locations with high environmental sensitivity.
• Law of the Sea Treaty: The Use of the World’s Seas The purpose of the treaty was to come up with a comprehensive rules governing the oceans and replacing the previous conventions of 1958 and that of 1961.
• Geologic Time and the World Ocean: Diving a Bit Deeper Studying the history of the Earth’s climate means analyzing the archaeological traces that the previous eras have left; and nowhere is the search for these traces is as efficient as it is in the ocean.
• What Lurks in the Depth of the Ocean? A range of technological advances and solutions for economic issues pose a tangible threat to environment, and oceans are by far the most vulnerable element of the latter.
• Archeological Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls William Albright, who is one of the popular archaeologists claimed that the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was one of the chief breakthroughs in the 20th century.
• How Plastic Pollution Can Impact Both Marine Life and Human Health
• Marine Life Can Bounce Back by 2050 — But Only if We Act Now
• Lebanon Oil Spill Threatens Bird and Marine Life
• How Will Marine Life Adapt to Warmer Oceans?
• Creating Communal Value Through Marine Life Protection
• Chasing the Future: How Will Ocean Change Affect Marine Life?
• Factors That Threaten Marine Life and Solutions to It
• The Structuring Role of Marine Life in Open Ocean Habitat
• Maintaining and Protecting Marine Life
• Pollution: Marine Life’s Number One Enemy Spreads Its Negative Effects on the Oceans
• Marine Life Encounters: Whale Sharks of Isla Mujeres
• How You Can Protect the Ocean and Help Save Marine Life From Home
• Global Warming Hits Marine Life Hardest
• Protecting Marine Life: 7 Reasons Why We Need to Act Now
• Marine Life Is Fleeing the Equator to Cooler Waters: History Tells Us This Could Trigger a Mass Extinction Event
• The Issue of Plastic Harming the Marine Life
• Ocean and Marine Life Protection Acts and Treaties
• Marine Life Is Facing Threats Never Seen Before: The Menace of Overfishing
• Six Ocean-Friendly Habits to Help Protect Marine Life
• The Protection of Marine Life and Its Legal Aspects
• What Are the Threats That Marine Life Is Facing?
• How Can You Protect the Ocean and Help Save Marine Life From Home?
• What Marine Life Is Most Affected by Pollution?
• How Much Marine Life Is Killed by Plastic?
• What Is the Biggest Cause of Marine Life Death?
• How Can We Save and Protect Marine Life?
• What Is Marine Life Conservation?
• Can We Survive Without Marine Life?
• How Is Climate Change Affecting Marine Life in the Arctic?
• What Is Marine Biology and Why Is It Important?
• Will Marine Life Face Mass Extinction if Oceans Continue to Warm?
• Is Marine Biology a Part of Environmental Science?
• What Is the Biggest Threat to Marine Life?
• How Does Marine Biology Affect the Environment?
• What Caused the Extinction of Marine Life?
• How Has Marine Biology Helped the World?
• Why Is Marine Life Important to the Environment?
• How Can Studying Marine Biology Help to Conserve Marine Diversity?
• What Is the Greatest Contribution of Marine Biology?
• Is Marine Biology Important to Humans?
• What Types of Pollution Affect Marine Life?
• How Does Marine Biology Affect Society?
• What Is the Role of Ethics in Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology?
• How Does Marine Biology Help the Environment?
• What Are the Benefits of Marine Biology?

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, July 14). 128 Marine Life Biology Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/marine-life-essay-topics/

"128 Marine Life Biology Topics." StudyCorgi , 14 July 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/marine-life-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '128 Marine Life Biology Topics'. 14 July.

1. StudyCorgi . "128 Marine Life Biology Topics." July 14, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/marine-life-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "128 Marine Life Biology Topics." July 14, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/marine-life-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "128 Marine Life Biology Topics." July 14, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/marine-life-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Marine Life were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 21, 2024 .

77 Easy Marine Biology Research Topics

The marine habitat is a world of wonder, with more undiscovered mysteries than what we know. The curiosity born from these gaps in knowledge is enormous, so research is necessary to provide as much information as possible.

A sacrosanct part of this information is finding the right aquatic biology research topics to base your paper on. Whether you are a student, or looking to carry out research in the field of marine biology, having good marine biology research topics will be of immense help to you.

Interesting Marine Biology Research Topics to Explore

• How do bioluminescent animals produce their light?
• The adaptability of bioluminescent animals to their habitats
• The relationship between the clownfish and sea anemone
• How are pearls formed?
• The impact of plastic wastes in marine habitats
• Forms of pollution in marine environment
• The four classes of marine biology
• Effects of climate change in marine habitats
• Phytoplanktons in the food chain
• Immunity in fishes
• Disease tolerance in oysters
• The diversity of marine organisms
• Parasites of aquatic organisms
• Buoyancy in sharks
• The marine food chain
• Adaptation of aquatic organisms to salinity
• Adaptation of aquatic organisms to fresh water
• The current rise in sea levels, and the consequences
• Effects of underwater movement of tectonic plates on marine life
• Symbiotic relationships between marine animals
• Parasitic organisms that affect whales
• Adaptation of birds to marine environment
• Mutation in aquatic organisms due to chemical spills
• Effects of toxins in marine habitats
• Melting glaciers and its effects on marine life
• Causes of fish die-offs
• Bioremediation in deep waters
• Factors that contribute to changes in oceans
• Aestivation in African lungfish
• Factors that lead to depletion of oxygen in marine habitats
• Causes of acidification in oceans
• How greenhouse gasses affect marine life
• The toxicity of sea anemones
• Feeding and metabolism in starfishes
• Reasons for dying of coral reefs
• What whale migration says about their behaviour
• Reasons for migration in dolphins
• Food web in marine habitats
• The contribution of microorganisms in marine environment
• Behavioural adaptation of x-ray fishes to avoiding predators
• Diversity of marine plants
• Reproduction in marine animals
• Different sources of pollutants in marine environments
• Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation in marine environments
• Microplastics: small objects, big problems
• Migration of microplastic toxins along the food chain
• Ways of reducing the problem of plastic in marine habitats
• Marine dumping
• Conservation of coral reefs
• Control of water pollution
• Distinctive features of marine fishes
• Energy pyramids in marine environments
• Relationship between selected marine organisms
• Diversity of corals
• Effets of ocean acidification on clownfish
• Effects of ocean acidification on other marine forms
• Ways of minimising ocean acidification
• Formation and effects of marine snow
• Camouflage in octopuses
• Adaptation of squids to their habitat
• Reasons for migration in albatrosses
• Migration in zooplankton
• Adaptive features of marine plants
• The role of sargassum plays in marine habitats
• Sinking of marine waste products
• formation of calcium sediments
• protection of marine habitats
• Viral infections in primary producers of food in marine habitats
• Importance of calcium carbonate to marine organisms
• Relationship between climate change and ocean acidification
• Heat waves in marine habitats
• Impact of heat waves on marine life
• Causes of harmful algal blooms in marine habitats
• Relationship between ocean acidification and marine algal bloom
• Effects of depletion of oxygen in marine ecosystems
• Interaction between the atmosphere and marine habitats
• Oxygen distribution along ocean depths.

These marine biology research topics are an accumulation of matters, questions and dark areas of knowledge in aquatic biology research. Your paper will provide the much needed knowledge to know more about what marine ecosystems offer.

Any of the topics you choose, you can rest assured that they are unique, interesting, and very engaging, no matter the audience. They are also easy to write about, no matter your level.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home — Application Essay — Science School — My Interest in Studying Marine Biology

My Interest in Studying Marine Biology

• University: University of Puget Sound

About this sample

Words: 535 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 535 | Pages: 1 | 3 min read

In this essay, I will delve into why I want to be a marine biologist. The story of my desk companions, named after historical figures, serves as a quirky introduction to my fascination with the underwater world and my deep-seated desire to pursue a career in marine biology. I will share my personal journey, motivations, and aspirations as I passionately explain why I want to be a marine biologist.

Say no to plagiarism.

Get a tailor-made essay on

'Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned'?

Two communists and a fascist sit on my desk. Every morning they greet me, staring with gigantic, famished eyes from behind their acrylic wall. "Here you go, boys" I chime merrily as I give them the day's rations.

On a whim a few months ago I drove down to the local pet store and bought three Bloodfin Tetras from a lady whose idea of a good fishnet was her clenched fist. After an initial scare, when one of my new fishy friends was practically turned into salmon mousse before being released from said fist, I pranced out of the store with a bag in my hand and a happy feeling in my heart. Now every morning Joe Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and Mao Zedong greet me, having been so christened by the tank's water.

Far from being a mere spur-of-the-moment decision, my little dictator desk buddies represent a personal interest that makes me unique. I became interested in marine biology when I read Shark Lady , the biography of ichthyologist Eugenie Clark who studied shark behavior around the world. On my sixteenth birthday, when most of my friends were asking for cars, I asked for SCUBA diving lessons. Now, with a fresh certification card tucked into my dive log, I could walk with the fish just like Eugenie.

For three summers I attended the SeaCamp Marine Biology Program in both San Diego and Oahu, Hawaii. In addition to taking copious amounts of notes, I also SCUBA dove, ran experiments, participated in labs, conducted field research and listened to talks by many noted ichthyologists, geologists, mammologists, and zoologists. One of these speakers was Jennifer Metz, a marine biologist whose work with the Peace Corps helped save miles of coral reef in the Philippines. By educating the local villagers and engineering alternate income and lifestyle projects, Jennifer was able to help both the people and the environment. I have a long and fruitful history with community service: I organize youth camps, collect food for the hungry, work as an aquarium volunteer, and teach disabled kids how to ride horses for physical therapy. Hearing Jennifer's story made me hope that someday I too can use both my knowledge of the ocean and my love for helping others to help both thrive and prosper in coexistence.

Keep in mind: This is only a sample.

Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.

The fish on my desk are just a shard of the expanse of the ocean that I take so much interest in. There is so much more to be discovered in its labyrinthine depths, and I, as a scientist, will do just that. It is this fascination that makes me unique. I hope that someday I will be as great a marine biologist as Eugenie, and, like Jennifer, use my love of the ocean to benefit both the sea and the people who depend on it.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Science School

+ 121 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Are you interested in getting a customized paper?

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Science School

As I reflect on my journey and the events that have shaped me, I realize that my passion for chemistry and materials science has been with me for a long time. Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by the science behind [...]

Cornell University, an Ivy League institution, has always been my dream school. Growing up, I was always fascinated by its rich history and its impressive reputation in academics, especially in the field of computer science. [...]

Studying biology has always been a dream of mine. As a child, I was fascinated by the natural world and the intricate systems that sustain life on this planet. Growing up, I was surrounded by nature and spent countless hours [...]

As a young child, I was always fascinated by the natural world and its mysteries. I remember the times I spent with my grandfather, an avid gardener, observing and studying the various plants and flowers that bloomed in his [...]

Wedding bells were ringing in the background, and my fingers were deftly picking their way through the Rubik's Cube concealed under my blazer. The last wedding I had attended was in fourth grade -- a bubble boy in a lavender [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Kindle Store
• Kindle eBooks
• Science & Math

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Buy for others

Buying and sending ebooks to others.

• Select quantity
• Buy and send eBooks
• Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Essays in Marine Biology for Young Scientists Kindle Edition

This book will be welcomed by readers, young and old, or somewhere in between. Young adults with a general interest in science will especially enjoy it.

Each chapter contains an essay on a topic in marine science. Some are short, some are long, some are tongue-in-check, while others are deadly serious. The essays span classic science to newer findings.

Aimed at students from 14 to 24 this book will help exemplary students interested in marine biology, enticing, with a hoard of information, but in small packets. From quick and easy glances at the marine biology world, to tougher concepts of ecology, this series of essays spans the breadth of the ocean world. Somewhere in here are the ideas for your project, your research paper focus, or your eventual thesis. Dive in.

• Print length 198 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publication date March 9, 2022
• File size 1080 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09V8CQHG9
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 9, 2022
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1080 KB
• Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 198 pages
• #145 in Marine Biology (Kindle Store)
• #380 in Ecology (Kindle Store)
• #611 in Marine Biology (Books)

About the author

Bruce j stephen.

Bruce J. Stephen, though born in landlocked Nebraska, has always been drawn to the sea.

As a researcher he has worked at research institutions but spends most of his time doing field work in ecology. He has taught biology at colleges for more than 25 years. In addition to classroom teaching he has lead students in field courses (Jamaica, Bermuda, and Belize). He is enthralled by all aspects of biology and has published research articles in marine science, ecology, malacology, invasive species biology, human behavior, and physiology.

The overall philosophy for his series of books is that learning should be fun. Too many standardized test and the state of the “business” of college has turned him in a different direction. Science classes are, perhaps, duller, then most, so these books are his way to turn this around; Science knowledge is too important to be left to memorized lists, and esoteric language: lets make it cheap and open enough for anyone interested, particularly young adults.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• Apply to UMaine

Maine EPSCoR

Investigating marine biology and developing as a researcher through environmental DNA

By Camryn Sudimick

In the vast expanse of the Earth’s ocean, our planet’s largest ecosystem, lie countless mysteries that have yet to be explored. Dedicated to uncovering such mysteries is Jamie Fogg, a sophomore studying Marine Science at the University of Maine.

Fogg began exploring marine biology during high school when she was involved in a program that selected her to go to Mount Desert Rock and develop her own research project. She documented wounded seals and presented her research at the Maine Science Fair, where she was awarded the Maine Top Scholar Award.

She was introduced to the world of environmental DNA (eDNA) during her first year at UMaine under the mentorship of Kristina Cammen, associate professor of marine mammal science. “I had no idea what eDNA was before,” Fogg explained. “But the Cammen Lab mostly focuses on utilizing genetics to understand marine ecosystems, and eDNA is a significant part of it.” In the Cammen Lab, Fogg has engaged in a diverse array of research activities, contributing her expertise to ongoing projects exploring various aspects of genetics and eDNA analysis for marine species.

Working in the lab opened the door to opportunities with the NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Maine-eDNA project. This past summer Fogg completed a Maine-eDNA internship that split her time between UMaine and Hurricane Island near Vinalhaven, Maine. In this position, she worked alongside Maine-eDNA Ph.D. Candidate Phoebe Jekielek, who aims to develop eDNA tools to help researchers better understand population dynamics, such as the reproductive and larval ecology of scallops, both in aquaculture and wild populations along the coast of Maine. 

Fogg and Jekielek collected both physical plankton samples, as well as eDNA water samples. In the lab, they counted how many scallop larvae were present in the plankton samples, while also conducting eDNA extractions and then performing qPCR analysis from the extractions to detect and quantify the presence of scallop larvae DNA in the sample. By following this procedure, they will be able to compare the number of scallop larvae in the water, as determined by the plankton samples, with the results of the qPCR data, which allowed them to assess the accuracy of the eDNA analysis in detecting the presence of scallop larvae. In addition to the physical plankton samples and eDNA water samples, they collected environmental data, including water turbidity, temperature, depth, and other measurements. Fogg is currently finishing her scallop enumerations. 

While their data analysis is not yet complete, Fogg emphasized the potential implications of the research findings. “I think a big part of this project’s goal is producing research that is tangible to local fishermen,” explained Fogg.  Jekielek’s work is inspired by the emerging scallop aquaculture industry. Her goal is to use findings to engage with and better inform members of the aquaculture industry, to ensure the industry’s long-term sustainability and adaptability.

One dimension of this they are exploring is how different types of seabed substrates impact scallop spawning. “We compared samples from two distinct sites: a soft bottom area and a rocky bottom site,” Fogg explained. One of these areas was near an aquaculture farm, representing cultivated scallop beds, while the other resembled natural scallop habitats. This comparison allows them to gain valuable insights into the differences between aquaculture and natural environments and how they may impact scallop populations. These insights could range from variations in scallop growth rates to differences in shell density or nutrient availability. Such discoveries hold the potential to inform and enhance aquaculture practices.

Fogg’s Maine-eDNA internship has been a rewarding experience. She appreciates the hands-on learning experience and has developed new technical skills,  and the experience led her to be more confident as a researcher. Fogg shared her personal growth experience, stating, “It has helped me really nail down that this is where I want to be, as well as visualize a future for myself in this field.” Fogg was the only Maine-eDNA intern assisting Jekielek in 2023, and while Jekielek is based at Hurricane Island, Fogg spent much of her summer stationed at the lab at UMaine. “Phoebe would come to the lab and teach me a protocol, such as how to do a DNA extraction, and then I would repeat it independently the next day,” Fogg explained. “That definitely helped me gain more independence, as well as confidence.”

In addition to her work with the Cammen Lab and Maine-eDNA, Fogg’s scholarly pursuits have been recognized with a prestigious grant from UMaine’s Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR). Through her CUGR-funded research, Fogg is investigating the oceanographic aspects of marine ecology, with a specific focus on gray seal eDNA. She aims to determine the limitations of this technology for detecting the animals in coastal waters, facilitating the non-invasive monitoring of marine mammal populations. This research provides valuable insight into the conservation and management of marine ecosystems and the capabilities of eDNA technologies. “It is really cool how relatively new these methodologies are, and how we are still developing and improving them,” Fogg expressed. She finds herself drawn toward eDNA because of its non-invasive factors, and she emphasizes its crucial role in revolutionizing environmental monitoring. Fogg recently presented her CUGR research at the University of Maine’s annual student symposium and achieved first place in the natural science category. Additionally, she has recently been awarded the NOAA Hollings Scholarship, which will provide further research opportunities. She expressed that her experiences with the Cammen Lab and Maine-eDNA have undoubtedly helped prepare her for this prestigious scholarship. As Fogg looks ahead to her journey in research, fueled by her fascination with marine ecosystems and the innovative potential of eDNA technologies, she envisions pursuing a Ph.D. and continuing to contribute to the advancement of marine science.

• Reference Manager
• Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Editorial article, editorial: deep learning for marine science.

• 1 College of Electronic Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
• 2 Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Cambridge, MA, United States
• 3 Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China
• 4 College of the Coast & Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States

Editorial on the Research Topic Deep learning for marine science

In recent years, Deep Learning (DL) technology has been widely used in marine science and technology research, and provides powerful technical support for related researches and applications. As ocean observation technology continues to advance, the volume of data generated by marine scientific research is steadily increasing. This offers vast potential for data-driven DL to demonstrate its capabilities and has therefore emerged as a valuable technology across multiple research fields, including biology, ecosystems, climate, energy, as well as physical and chemical interactions.

The Research Topic “Deep Learning for Marine Science” aims to provide a research collection to collect relevant research work on the application of DL technology in marine science. A total of 39 papers are published with contributions by 236 authors. The contents in these papers focus on the following aspects: research survey, marine/underwater image enhancement/restoration/compression, marine/underwater visual recognition/detection, dataset and labeling, marine process/phenomenon prediction/detection, marine physical/biogeochemical variable prediction/reconstruction, and marine optics/acoustics. Here, we summarize the contents of these papers and highlight their key contributions to the Research Topic.

1 Research survey

Although machine learning tools hold great promise, they are still not being used to their full potential in several areas, such as species and environmental monitoring, biodiversity surveys, fisheries abundance and size estimation, rare events, and species detection, the study of animal behavior, and citizen science. To help researchers effectively apply image-based machine learning methods in their research problems, Belcher et al. write a review article that provides an easily approachable end-to-end guide.

In terms of underwater image restoration technology, Song et al. make a systematic review to bridge the gap between shallow sea and deep-sea image restoration through experimental analysis. The review mainly describes the core concepts and methods of the three types of shallow sea image restoration methods. It also summarizes the research status and main challenges of deep-sea image restoration, discusses potential solutions, conducts experiments and in-depth discussions, and proposes several development directions for deep-sea image restoration in the future.

2 Marine/underwater image enhancement/restoration/compression

It is a challenging task to store and transmit high-quality underwater images. To improve the performance of adaptive sampling and reconstruction of underwater images, Li et al. combine the advantages of compressed sensing and DL to propose ESPC-BCS-Net. The method obtains parameters (such as sampling matrix, sparse transforms, and shrinkage thresholds) through end-to-end learning. The experimental results are visually and quantitatively evaluated, demonstrating that the proposed method has good compression and reconstruction effects.

Xin et al. introduce an end-to-end network for Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) pre-processing in low-light underwater environments, aiming to address the limitations of visual SLAM systems based on feature point extraction. The proposed network comprises a low-light enhancement branch with a non-reference loss function, a self-supervised feature point detector, and a descriptor extraction branch. Additionally, a unique matrix transformation method is designed to enhance the feature similarity between two adjacent video frames, thereby improving the performance of underwater SLAM.

In order to solve the important problems of blur and color distortion in underwater optical imaging and improve the ability to accurately perceive underwater images, Zhang et al. propose a multi-scale weighted fusion method. By merging, enhancing, and reconstructing images, the clarity and color fidelity of underwater images are effectively improved, and the quality of underwater images presented is improved. Excellent results have been obtained in many experimental indexes.

Zheng et al. propose a solution to improve the performance of underwater monocular visual SLAM systems. The existing SLAM algorithms are often impractical or invalid due to the complex aquatic environment and the poor image quality obtained in such conditions. The proposed solution involves using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to enhance the underwater images before SLAM processing. To reduce the inference cost, the GAN is compressed through knowledge distillation. This approach ensures real-time inference and high-fidelity underwater image enhancement.

To improve the quality of underwater images and achieve simultaneous restoration and super-resolution, Wang et al. propose an end-to-end trainable model named Simultaneous Restoration and Super-Resolution GAN (SRSRGAN). The model uses GANs and consists of two stages of a cascading architecture to restore and super-resolve damaged underwater images coarse to fine. The proposed method is experimentally validated and demonstrates its superiority in underwater image restoration, super-resolution, and simultaneous restoration and super-resolution.

3 Marine/underwater visual recognition/detection

In order to realize the fast navigation of Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) in complex marine environments, a target detection algorithm with high detection speed and accuracy is essential. To address this Research Topic, Zhang et al. propose a YOLOv5 lightweight object detection algorithm that leverages the Ghost module and Transformer, resulting in high-efficiency and high-precision object detection. The proposed algorithm is tested on ship videos collected by the “JiuHang 750” USV in different marine environments and demonstrates promising results.

To address the problem of ship instance segmentation in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images with high resolution and complex backgrounds, Yasir et al. propose a unique YOLOv7 improved high-resolution remote sensing (HR-RS) image segmentation single-stage detection method. The method enhances the accuracy, efficiency, and model robustness of ship instance segmentation through improvements made to the single-stage detector, backbone network, and network feature fusion part, and promising results have been achieved.

To enhance the economic and environmental performance of the fishery, Avsar et al. utilize underwater images captured by an in-trawl video recording system to obtain quantitative information on the capture rate of Nephrops norvegicus , a target species. The study employs real-time detection, tracking, and counting techniques to monitor the entry of the target species into the trawl. The detection is done using the YOLOv4 algorithm, which has a proven track record in real-time processing underwater images to determine the target species’ capture rate. Additionally, the algorithm has the potential to process multiple species simultaneously.

Saito et al. utilize DL to investigate the suspended particles in the depths of the sea. To analyze the variability of suspended particle abundance in the images taken by the standard fixed camera “Edokko Mark 1”, they implement object detection technology through the YOLOv5 algorithm to create a suspended particle detection model. They conduct the first excavation test of cobalt-rich ferromanganese crust in the world. The ability of the model to measure changes in the concentration of deep-sea suspended particles is assessed, and the effectiveness of the proposed method in detecting temporal changes of suspended particles and detecting significant abrupt changes, such as mining effects, is validated.

Collecting data on marine fish can be a challenging task due to the nature of their environment, often resulting in poor-quality data. Moreover, identifying various fish categories from small sample images can be difficult, especially regarding fine-grained classification. Zhai et al. propose a new attention network called the Sandwich Attention Covariance Metric Network (SACovaMNet), which applies metric learning and incorporates attention modules to comprehensively improve the feature extraction capability from global and local perspectives. The result is an excellent performance in the task of fine-grained fish classification.

Prior et al. develop automated video post-processing models to implement automated image analysis of commercially important Gulf of Mexico fish species and habitats. In addition to traditional metrics used to measure the performance of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) models, such as mean Average Precision (mAP), the automated counts are compared to validated set counts to ensure accuracy. The adapting comparative otolith aging methods and metrics are used to measure the model performance, which helps researchers analyze and make management decisions. This approach provides a valuable tool for analyzing Gulf of Mexico fish species and habitats.

Han et al. propose a few-shot domain adaptive underwater object detection framework to address the issues of expensive establishment of marine species database and unstable domain shifting of underwater objects caused by the complex marine environment. The framework includes a novel two-stage training method and a lightweight feature correction module that can adapt to image-level and instance-level domain shifting on multiple datasets. The method quickly demonstrates its knowledge transfer capability in detecting two similar marine species.

Through the sea trial experimental data, Guo et al. propose to automatically identify inbound and outbound ships by utilizing the phenomenon that the sound field interference structures of inbound and outbound ships are different due to the variation of the topography of the shallow continental shelf. The approach utilizes only a single scalar hydrophone to collect data and employs four convolutional neural networks to classify inbound and outbound ships. And this research method can be applied to the intelligent monitoring of ships entering and leaving ports.

To address the challenge of applying DL algorithms to underwater target detection tasks due to the complex underwater environment and low image quality, Zhang et al. propose an underwater target detection algorithm based on an improved version of YOLOv4. This proposed method achieves superior detection performance and efficiency in experiments by incorporating a newly designed convolutional network module, loss function, and detector strategy.

Large-scale research on plankton classification, which uses machine learning techniques, requires powerful computing resources. The exponential computing power of quantum computers makes quantum machine learning a potential solution for large-scale data processing. Therefore, Shi et al. propose a hybrid quantum-classical convolutional neural network (CNN) for the identification task of phytoplankton. The model demonstrates the feasibility of using quantum deep neural networks for phytoplankton classification for the first time. The proposed model exhibits a faster convergence rate, higher classification accuracy, and lower accuracy fluctuation compared to classic CNN-based models.

Commercial fishing vessels face difficulties in collecting acoustic data required for species classification and population evaluation due to the limited calibration capability and frequent data loss of current commercial echo sounders. To address this issue, Tong et al. develop an automatic detection and classification model for Pacific saury ( Cololabis saira ) echo trace using the YOLOv5m algorithm. This model enables the measurement of in-situ values of Pacific saury using a single fish echo trace. Furthermore, the living fish calibration method is utilized to facilitate rapid calibration of commercial echo sounders.

To measure the fish without disturbing their natural habitat and overcome the limitation of manual measurement with potentially harmful intervention, Marrable et al. propose a generalized, semi-automatic method that combines the DL method with the high-precision stereo-BRUVS calibration method. The calibration cube is used to ensure that the accuracy of the calculated length is within a few millimeters and that the measurement accuracy is close to the accuracy of human measurements.

In order to distinguish the subtle changes of marine organisms and achieve accurate fine-grained classification, Si et al. propose a new transformer-based framework, token-selective vision transformer, and also propose a token-selective self-attention to select important tokens with discrimination for attention calculation, so as to limit attention to more accurate local areas. Experiments on three marine biological datasets verify that the proposed method can achieve state-of-the-art performance.

Current DL methods face challenges in processing in-situ plankton images due to large computation and long consumption time. To address this issue, Yue et al. propose an inter-class similarity distillation algorithm. This method enables the student network (small scale) to acquire excellent plankton recognition ability under the guidance of the teacher network (large scale). The experiment proves helpful in improving the accuracy and speed of plankton recognition, establishing effective DL models, and facilitating the deployment of underwater plankton imaging systems.

To address the ever-changing marine environments and diverse marine life, Schmid et al. implement edge computing technology by integrating the latest In-situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System-3 (ISIIS-3) in the Northern California Current. The edge server utilizes DL techniques to achieve high-throughput in-situ plankton classification technology for real-time data adaptive sampling.

In order to develop and evaluate a subtidal seagrass detector method, Langlois et al. adopt a DL model to detect most forms of seagrass appearing in various habitats in the seascape of northeast Australia from underwater images, and classify them according to the coverage degree of seagrass to obtain high accuracy, and better application value and prospects.

To create a non-invasive method to recognize leopard coral grouper ( Plectropomus leopardus ), Wang et al. develop a multiscale image processing method based on matched filters with Gaussian kernels and partial differential equation (PDE) multiscale hierarchical decomposition with the deep convolutional neural network models VGG19 and ResNet50 to extract shape and texture image features of individuals. They then use these features to identify individual Plectropomus leopardus in sequence images captured over 50 days. To achieve this, they employ random forest, support vector machine, and multi-layer perceptron methods for individual recognition. The experimental results demonstrate that the CNN based on PDE decomposition can identify Plectropomus leopardus effectively and with great accuracy.

4 Dataset and labeling

Catalán et al. create a new labeling dataset with the aim to further study and improve the application of DL techniques in identifying and classifying fish in underwater images. The dataset consists of more than 18,400 recorded Mediterranean fish from 20 different species, which are obtained through various operations such as different backgrounds, sample size, labeling quality, etc. These fish were extracted from underwater images captured from over 1,600 diverse backgrounds, which will assist in improving the use of DL in studying underwater life.

To achieve efficient data labeling and reduce the cost of manual labeling, Zhang et al. propose a weakly supervised learning framework for labeling marine biological data. This method utilizes crowdsourcing interfaces to converge to a labeled image dataset through multiple training and production loops. Experimental results demonstrate that training with a small subset and iterating over the results can converge to a large, highly annotated dataset with a small number of iterations.

Remote sensing technology can potentially capture aerial images of cetaceans across a vast observation area. However, current limitations in automated analysis techniques require biologists to manually analyze all images, leading to exorbitant tagging costs. Boulent et al. propose a human-in-the-loop approach that merges the proficiency of biologists with DL-based automation capabilities to create a reliable AI-assisted annotation tool for large-scale cetacean monitoring.

DL has been applied to the image classification of marine echinoderms in response to the need for automatic classification in marine biology research worldwide. Zhou et al. collect image data of marine echinoderms and classify them according to systematic taxonomy. Based on the DL model EfficientNetV2, an automatic classification tool (EchoAI) is developed. The EchoAI tool, along with methods and strategies, can classify images of other categories of marine organisms, thus helping researchers investigate the diversity, abundance, and distribution of marine species.

5 Marine process/phenomenon prediction/detection

Song et al. propose a new method called Time-Sequence-Involved Space Discretization neural network (TSI-SD) to solve the problem of large computation amount and high complexity of the fluid numerical model. This method extracts grid correlations from both spatial and temporal views simultaneously and combines TSI-SD with finite volume format as an advection solver for passive scalar advection in a two-dimensional unsteady flow field. Compared to the previous method that only considers spatial context, TSI-SD achieves higher simulation accuracy and reduces the calculation amount. Comprehensive experiments have verified the superior computational efficiency and accuracy of this method.

Song et al. propose a spatio-temporal transformer network that overcomes the defects of existing methods in network structure design and prediction errors to accurately, quickly and effectively predict ENSO events. This network simulates the inherent characteristics of spatio-temporal variations of sea surface temperature anomaly maps and heat content anomaly maps and takes into account the influence of seasonal variations on the prediction of ENSO phenomena. Additionally, an effective recurrent forecasting strategy is proposed, which takes previous predictions as prior knowledge to improve the reliability of long-term forecasting.

Aiming at addressing the problem that the current method only uses single-modal Sea Surface Height (SSH) data to detect mesoscale eddy, which often leads to inaccurate results, Zhao et al. propose an end-to-end mesoscale eddy detection method based on multi-modal data fusion, and add the data of the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and the velocity of flow. The superior performance of the proposed method is demonstrated on various multi-modal mesoscale eddy datasets.

In view of the problem that the ocean front detection method in the Southwestern Atlantic Front (SAF) mainly adopts the thermal gradient method while ignoring dynamic features, which leads to inaccurate manifestation of SAF. Wang et al. develop a DL model, SAFNet, to detect the SAF through the synergistic effect of satellite SST and SSH observation data in 10 years (2010-2019), to achieve high-precision SAF detection with the fusion of thermal and dynamic features.

6 Marine physical/biogeochemical variable prediction/reconstruction

Based on satellite observations, machine learning has successfully reconstructed the high-resolution ocean subsurface thermohaline structure. However, due to the macro-tidal environment and limited in-situ observations, the offshore subsurface parameter estimation accuracy will be affected. Yu et al. propose a new approach by coupling the TPXO tidal model and light gradient boosting machine algorithm to develop an inversion model of offshore subsurface thermal structure for the South Yellow Sea (SYS) using sea surface data and in-situ observations. The experimental results show that the reconstruction is reliable in the SYS area, and the proposed method also provides a new exploration direction for reconstructing offshore ocean thermal structures.

For the reconstruction of satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentration in a global scale, Roussillon et al. propose a method based on physical predictors, and uses a multi-mode convolutional neural network to globally account for interregional variabilities via learning and combining different modes spatially. The different modes show regional consistency with ocean dynamics, and the work contributes to new insights into the physical-biogeochemical processes that control temporal and spatial variability in phytoplankton on a global scale.

The current status of the sea surface carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) in the Yellow Sea is unclear due to limited availability of in-situ spatial and temporal distribution data. To address this problem, Li et al. develop a pCO2 model using a random forest algorithm. The model uses 14 cruise datasets from 2011 to 2019, as well as input variables such as remote sensing satellite sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, diffuse attenuation of downwelling irradiance, and in-situ salinity. The model is trained and tested, yielding excellent prediction and evaluation results.

Cutolo et al. develop a CLuster Optimal Interpolation Neural Network (CLOINet) to combine remote-sensing data with in-situ observation and create a comprehensive 3D reconstruction of the ocean state. CLOINet combines the robust mathematical framework of the optimal interpolation scheme with a self-supervised clustering method and also effectively segments remote sensing images into clusters to reveal non-local correlations and enhance fine-scale ocean reconstruction. The network is trained using the output of the Ocean General Circulation Model and shows good reconstruction results in various testing scenarios.

7 Marine optics/acoustics

Huang et al. propose a Task-driven Meta-Deep-Learning (TDML) framework to solve the problem that the nonuniform distribution of sound speed will bring difficulties to underwater accurate positioning. It learns the common features of the Sound Speed Profile (SSP) through multiple base learners, accelerates the model convergence on new tasks, and enhances the model’s sensitivity to changes in sound field data through metatraining. Thus, the over-fitting effect is weakened, and the inversion accuracy is improved. Experimental results show that the proposed TDML method can achieve fast and accurate spatio-temporal SSP inversion.

To fully consider how water environment and communication equipment affect signal transmission and accurately simulate the complex characteristics of the Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC) systems, Huo et al. develop a UWOC channel emulator based on deep convolutional conditional generative adversarial networks, which are tested in experiments to verify their excellent performance in the time domain, frequency domain, and universality under different water turbidity levels.

To achieve full acoustic tracking of whales with reverberation interference, Jin et al. propose an intelligent acoustic tracking model that enables horizontal direction discrimination and distance/depth perception by mining unpredictable features of position information directly from signals received from two hydrophones. The proposed method not only achieves satisfactory prediction performance, but also effectively avoids the reverberation effect of signal propagation over long distances.

Author contributions

HZ: Writing – original draft. HB: Writing – review & editing. XC: Writing – review & editing. MB: Writing – review & editing.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Keywords: research survey, marine/underwater image enhancement/restoration/compression, marine/underwater visual recognition/detection, dataset and labeling, marine process/phenomenon prediction/detection, marine physical/biogeochemical variable prediction/reconstruction, marine optics/acoustics

Citation: Zheng H, Bi H, Cheng X and Benfield MC (2024) Editorial: Deep learning for marine science. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1407053. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1407053

Received: 26 March 2024; Accepted: 23 April 2024; Published: 03 May 2024.

Edited and Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Zheng, Bi, Cheng and Benfield. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Haiyong Zheng, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Deep Learning for Marine Science