Science

Marine Biology

In the first semester of Marine Biology some time will be used to study oceanography (waves, currents and the interaction of the atmosphere and ocean to create climate), but most of the semester will focus on the biology of marine habitats. We explore the animals that live in the coral reef, coastal, open ocean and the deep sea habitats. During the second semester we go in depth into fish, shark, and marine mammal biology and behavior, explore how humans use the ocean for resources and discuss the many conservation issues impacting the ocean today. Labs include water density and making waves, changing our classroom into the deep-sea as we “hunt” for fish, marine mammal communication, marine mammal diving physiology, and Monterey Bay marine mammal species identification just to name a few. The class will also connect with marine mammal scientists via zoom to look more closely at and gain exposure to the field research that they are conducting.