Marine Biology: Saving Nemo's Home!

Nemo loves his home in the Great Barrier Reef, but unfortunately it is in danger due to climate change! Thankfully, on March 28’s Marine Biology Workshop, led by Sharisa, Paige, and Nadia, we became marine biologists to help Nemo understand the issue and save his home!

We must save Nemo’s home because the Great Barrier Reef contains about 1500 species of fish, 100 species of sharks and rays, and in total it makes up about 8% of the world’s species of fish. And the first step to saving this ecosystem is understanding marine biology. 

So what is marine biology? Marine biology is the study of oceanic organisms and their behaviors and interactions with their environment. In a marine ecosystem, there are several levels. The first level is plankton, then it is herbivores, carnivores, and finally, the top predators. Additionally, marine organisms can be classified in different categories such as plants, bacteria, fungi, animals, protists, and chromists. So as marine biologists, the girls and volunteers worked together to use these levels and categories to identify Nemo’s friends in the Great Barrier Reef! As one of the girls said, “this activity was her favorite part” because it was very “engaging and interesting.” In the end, we were able to successfully identify all Nemo’s friends, and as new marine biologists, we have become one step closer to saving the Great Barrier Reef!

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