The Tides

Tides are the cycle of the Earth's rising and falling ocean surface.  This is caused by the tidal forces of both the sun and moon acting upon the earth.  The tides cause drastic changes in depth throughout the sea.  They also produce oscillating currents which are also known as tidal streams.  Making prediction of the tides is essential for coastal navigation. "The strip of seashore that is submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide, the intertidal zone, is an important ecological product of ocean tides."  

The changing tides produced at a specific location on earth is the result of the Moon and Sun interacting with the Earth. "Though the gravitational force exerted by the Sun on the Earth is almost 200 times stronger than that exerted by the Moon, the tidal force produced by the Moon is about twice as strong as that produced by the Sun."  This is because the tidal force isn't necessarily related by the strength of a gravitational, but to its incline.  The field incline decreases with distance from the source more quickly than does the field strength.  The Sun is roughly 400 times further from the Earth than the Moon is.   The gradient of the Sun's field, along with the tidal force made by the sun is more weak than the Moon's. 
  
website:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/t/tide.htm
picture:  http://www.greenlaunches.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ocean_tides.jpg

The Gulf Stream

The Gulf stream which originates in Mexico, exits through the the straight of Florida, and then follows the eastern coastlines along with Newfoundland before crossing through the Atlantic Ocean.  The Gulf Stream splits into two at about at approximately 30 degrees west and and 40 degrees North.  The Northern stream crossing over to Northern Europe and the southern stream recirculating off the West coast of Africa.  This Gulf stream can also change climate over different parts of the current as well.

The Gulf Stream has a pretty big impact of the climate throughout the east coast of North America.  It influences the climate substantially from Florida to Newfoundland, along with the west coast of Europe.  However, there is some speculation that global warming can decrease or possibly shutdown thermohaline circulation which would reduce the North Atlantic Drift.  The time frame for this occurrence is not clear, but some estimates range from twenty to forty years, or 200-400 years.  Again it is not clear.  "This could trigger localised cooling in the North Atlantic and lead to cooling (or lesser warming) in that region, particularly affecting areas that are warmed by the North Atlantic Drift, such as Scandinavia and Great Britain" (Science Daily).  The chances of this happening is also not clear.  

website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/g/gulf_stream.htm

picture:  http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/img_topo1/gulf-stream2.jpg

Trophic Levels

The trophic level is the position in which an organism occupies the food chain.  The organism faces two fates: What will eat them and what will they eat.  It is a cycle in the ecosystem.  Everything is a prey and everything is a predator, just at different degrees.  A fish eats shrimp and other crustaceans, but seals eat the fish.  It is a continuing cycle throughout the ocean blue.  There is such a diverse amount of prey to feed on that losing one species of prey will not ruin the entire ecosystem.  No one predator is subject to to one species of prey.  The predator has adapted to consuming numerous types of prey because they know that that prey wont be around forever.  Its almost like the food we eat.  You don't want pizza every night right? you get sick of it.  Well its the same thing in the ocean except with sea creatures.

The food chain or the trophic levels are occupied by numerous species of sea life.  At the first level and second lie the plants like zooplankton and phytplankton.  The second level contains the zooplankton because it eats the phytoplanktobn.  In the trophic levels anything below you eats you.  So the third level is the crustaceans, and below them lie the fish, who eat the crustaceans.  The fifth level lies all the other animals that swim around the ocean, they eat anything above them depending on the animal.

website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/t/trophic_level.htm
picture: www.sciencelearn.org.nz 

Marine Conservation

 Marine conservation is the study of preserving biological and physical marine resources and ecosystem functions.  Marine conservations count on numerous amounts of scientific principles derived from marine biology, oceanography, fisheries science, and demand for marine resources and marine law.  

Marine conservation, which is also known as marine resources conservation, is the protection and conservation of ecosystems in oceans or seas.  Ecosystems are where sea animals interact with one another.  It focuses on three key things.  The first is damaged caused by humans to the marine ecosystems.  The second is on renewing damaged marine ecosystems.  And the third is focusing on vulnerable and weak marine species.

Coral reefs are the backbone of the ecosystem.  They provide tremendous amounts of food, shelter, and protection of different kinds of sea creatures.  Coral reefs are also an important aspect of sustaining human life through serving as a valuable food source (fish, mollusks, etc).  They also serve as a marine space for eco-tourism that provides economic benefits.  Unfortunately the coral reefs are becoming degraded and are in dire need of conservation.  Human activities like pollution, overfishing, and destructive fishing practices.  Other factors of the digression are sedimentation and excessive amounts of CO2 emissions.

website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/marine_conservation.htm
picture: http://www.solutions-site.org