The oceans cover 71% of the earth's surface, with the deepest part being about 11,000 meters below sea level, and the average depth of the oceans is about 3,800 meters. As is often said, it is more appropriate to call it a sea sphere than the Earth. The ocean is also the place where life originated, and it was the site of biological evolution for a long time before organisms began to live on land. In terms of the number of species, the ocean has about 220,000 species, which is not as many as those on land, but in terms of evolutionary diversity, such as the number of phyla, the ocean is home to more than 30 phyla, while land and freshwater have less than 20, making the ocean by far the most diverse. This indicates that terrestrial organisms originated in the sea, and only a portion of marine organisms made it to land.
The environmental factors affecting organisms in the sea and on land are very different. In addition, the word "ocean" in a nutshell covers a wide range of environments from estuarine to coastal areas to the open ocean. Even in terms of depth, there is a wide range of environmental differences, from the shallow sea where sunlight reaches the surface to the deep sea where no light at all reaches the surface. Life forms adapted to each of these environments live in them.
In this marine ecology training, students learn about the relationship between such environmental factors and organisms in the ocean. The best part of the practical training is the opportunity to actually go out to sea and come into contact with the organisms and the diversity of life in the environment. The training period is short, and there are not many practical exercises available, but I would like you to spend the training period looking and thinking carefully for yourself, without being passive.
