Animals and plants of the Arctic Ocean!

Animals in the Arctic ocean have to be able to withstand freezing temperatures, and they all have different ways to do this. Some of these animals are:

Diatoms 

Single-celled algae called diatoms live with in the arctic sea ice. (Gardiner, 2007)

Zooplankton 

(copepod, amphipod), Zooplankton are small crustaceans, and have exoskeletons.  (Gardiner, 2007)

Fish

The Pink fish
 (Gardiner, 2007)

 (Arctic cod, pink fish) Little is known about the pinks fish but it was found roaming the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. (Gardiner, 2007)

                                                                                                                         

Marine Mammals           

(Walruses, Polar bears, Ringed seal, Northern fur seal) These are mammals who roam the land but also swim through water to get their prey. (Gardiner, 2007)

Mammals in these cold areas, find it harder than other animals to live because they are warm blooded. A polar bear has many ways it keeps itself warm in the cold temperatures of the arctic. It has black skin, that allows it to extract as much heat from the sun as possible, A thick layer of blubber (fat) helps to keep them warm while swimming through cold water. A polar bear has been forced to adapt to a more aquatic life because of climate change. Polar bears a strong swimmers and have been tracked swimming for 100 km with out stopping. The hair of a polar bear is smooth and can easily shake off water and ice left on its fur when it gets out of the water. Their front paws are used as propellers as they swim through the water doggy style. The back paws are used as rudders. Many animals have had to change the way they live because of climate change. A polar bear is a great example. Because climate change is melting ice in the North Pole, Antarctica and Greenland its making it harder for mammals in these areas to live. (Gardiner, 2007)

The Arctic ocean has relatively no plant life except for the Phytoplankton and there is huge amounts of the in the Arctic. They feed of nutrients from melting rivers and the currents of the Atlantic and Pacific ocean. In summer the sun is out day and night, allowing the Phytoplankton to photosynthesise and reproduce quickly, in winter, the opposite happens and the Phytoplankton struggle to survive. Due to changed in climate the timing the Phytoplankton blooming changes. If there is less sea ice then the Phytoplankton will reproduce less meaning that there will be less to feed the food chain. The Phytoplankton are the very base of the food chain. If it disappears then the whole ecosystem will change.

References:
National Earth Science Teachers Association - Lisa Gardiner, Feb 2007, Windows to the World - Arctic Marine Life Available: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/polar/arctic_marine_life.html
Accessed 9 April 2012

Caleb, No date could be found, Oracle think quest 
Available: http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/polarbear.htm
Accessed 9 April 2012

SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database, Busch Entertainment cooperation 2002. Sea world adventure parks - polar bears
Available: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/PolarBears/pbadaptations.html
Accessed 9 April 2012


Wikipedia - last modified 11th April 2009.  Wikipedia - Arctic Ocean
Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Ocean#Animal_and_plant_life
Accessed: 9 April 2012

Arctic portal - 2011. Arctic Portal - affects of sea ice reduction
Available: http://www.arcticportal.org/effects-of-arctic-sea-ice-reduction
Accessed: 9 April 2012