ECOSYSTEM SNAPSHOT: OCEANS

FEATURED POPULATION: SHARKS

ANIMAL FACTSAdaptations –

• Shark skin is made up of scales.• All sharks have multiple rows of teeth. While

they lose teeth on a regular basis, new teeth continue to grow, replacing those that they lose. Sharks lose up to 30,000 teeth in their lifetime.

• Sharks use body coloration as camouflage.

SHARKS: BASIC NEEDS

Basic Needs

• air• water• shelter• food

Shelter/Habitat

• sharks continually move around the oceans and find shelter when needed

Food

• fish• crustaceans• marine

mammals• mollusks

THE OCEAN COMMUNITYwhales

mackerel

tunashrimp

squid

crab

THE OCEAN ECOSYSTEM

THE OCEAN ECOSYSTEM

• Most of the ocean’s organisms live in the sunlit zone.

• The average depth of the ocean is 2–3 miles. In some places, the ocean is deeper than the tallest mountains on Earth are high!

• The ocean contains about 97% of all of the water on Earth.

PHOTO CREDITS

The photos are courtesy of clip art.