This slide set was used to help facilitate a discussion about oceanic zonation (in both the pelagic and benthic realm) in my Marine Biology class. Particular emphasis was placed on the intertidal zone since this is the zone we will explore most in our field study to the Florida Keys in April.

2. VS.

3. The PELAGIC zone

4. epipelagic
mesopelagic
bathypelagic
The PELAGIC zone

5. The BENTHIC zone

19. The BENTHIC zone

20. 2% ! photic zone
aphotic zone
LIGHT penetration

21. TROPHIC LEVELS
1 kg of TUNA
10 kg of
MID-SIZED FISH
100 kg of
SMALL FISH
1000 kg of
SMALL HERBIVORES
10,000 kg of
PRIMARY PRODUCERS

22. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM?
MANY, OBVIOUS CONSUMERS
WHERE… ARE THE PRODUCERS?

23. This is only an
APPARENT
INVERTED
TROPHIC PYRAMID

24. Enter...
THE ATOMIC BOMB

25. AFTER WWII:
• US conducts first postwar
nuclear tests on Enewetok
•studied pre and post-
explosion flora & fauna
• Howard & Eugene ODUM

30. Enewetok Atoll is/are the small islands where the
U.S. tested 43 atomic bombs in the 1950's..
including 'mike'... the worlds first thermonuclear device.
I was there during the late 1970's for the government’s
attempt at cleaning up the resulting radiation.
Radioactive soil and materials were dumped into
the lagoon and into a large bomb crater, then the
crater was sealed with a huge concrete cap.
The burial site is expected to be 'hot' for 25,000 years.
This Atoll, although one of the most beautiful places
anywhere, is not where I would go for a vacation.

31. People are not allowed to stay the night on Bikini
due to the high levels of radioactivity.
The ocean floor has completely recovered,
and has some beautiful coral diving.
Bikini natives now live on Kwajalein Atoll .

33. No one was living on the Bikini atoll at the time of the BRAVO blast. However, a total of 236 people were living
on the atolls of Rongelap and Utirik, 100 and 300 miles east of Bikini, respectively. The residents of Rongelap
were exposed to as much as 200 rems of radiation. They were evacuated 24 hours after the detonation. The residents
of Utirik, which were exposed to lower levels of radiation, were not evacuated until at least two days later.
After their evacuation, many experienced typical symptoms of radiation poisoning; burning of the mouth and eyes,
nausea, diarrhea, loss of hair, and skin burns.
Ten years after the blast the first thyroid tumors began to appear. Of those under twelve on Rongelap at the time of
BRAVO, 90% have developed thyroid tumors. In 1964, the U. S. Government admitted responsibility for exposing the
islanders to radiation and appropriated funds to compensate them.

34. No one was living on the Bikini atoll at the time of the BRAVO blast. However, a total of 236 people were living
on the atolls of Rongelap and Utirik, 100 and 300 miles east of Bikini, respectively. The residents of Rongelap
were exposed to as much as 200 rems of radiation. They were evacuated 24 hours after the detonation. The residents
of Utirik, which were exposed to lower levels of radiation, were not evacuated until at least two days later.
After their evacuation, many experienced typical symptoms of radiation poisoning; burning of the mouth and eyes,
nausea, diarrhea, loss of hair, and skin burns.
Ten years after the blast the first thyroid tumors began to appear. Of those under twelve on Rongelap at the time of
BRAVO, 90% have developed thyroid tumors. In 1964, the U. S. Government admitted responsibility for exposing the
islanders to radiation and appropriated funds to compensate them.

36. FOUND:
•encrusting algae had a
MUCH more substantial
biomass than was thought
• more algae in sand and dead
coral skeletons
•substantial BASE…
but not enough

37. THEN FOUND:
• coral polyps have algae
living WITHIN them!
• called: ZOOXANTHELLAE
• corals are their OWN
mutualistic
“mini-ecosystem”

38. Endish.