Survey

There are surveys in the book that will monitor progress. The participant should be honest and answer spontaneously. They are not tests, rather, they show how the participants knowledge has changed over the course of the textbook, how it has changed and grown.

The first page of the survey is to see the level of overall knowledge about the ocean with emphasis placed on the 7 principles of Ocean Literacy. The second page of the survey focuses more on how the reader relates to the ocean taking into consideration: awareness, attitude, behaviour, activism, communication, emotional connection, experience, and adaptive capabilities. The structure of the survey was based on a combination of the Ocean & Society Survey and Journal Articles about Ocean Literacy, see reference section.  

This stunning blue photo with black fish was taken in the waters of the Marine Protected Area of the Cape of Milazzo, in Sicily. This reserve was inaugurated in 2018, about when this photo was taken of damselfish (Chromis chromis). These waters are constantly monitored to guarantee a productive improvement of the ecosystem. The same thing should be done when we are learning. We need to monitor our progress to see what we knew are the beginning and how we improve.

There are three surveys in the book. The first survey should be completed before the book is started to check current knowledge. The second survey should be done at the completion of the section on Ocean Literacy Principles. The third survey is to do at the very end after the section on Impacts. 

Check you answers only when you've completed the whole book. Answers can vary, click here to see the survey and possible answers,

The purpose of the survey is so see progress. What's important is that there is an improvement in the overall understanding of concepts. These answers are just to review what was already talked about in the book. The surveys shouldn't be "graded" but should be used as a benchmark of progress.

Answers:

How many Oceans are there?

Most of the water on our planet is found in the ocean: 96,5%. Have you heard about the various oceans of the world? The Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic, and the Southern Ocean. These oceans with different names are all actually connected, none of them is closed on all sides by land, so we could say that our planet actually has just one big ocean! 

How does the ocean and life in the ocean change the features of the Earth?

The ocean can modify the shape of the coastline with wave action that erodes and shapes the land. However, even large and slower processes happen that lift the seabed up through tectonic movements and form mountains. The ring-of-fire is an arc of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean, and the mid-ocean-ridge is the longest mountain range in the world, and its found at the bottom of the ocean. Plus, life in the ocean can then be found as fossils on land.

What causes sea level to change?

During the ice ages more water was stored in ice caps and glaciers and sea level was lower. During hotter eras than today, ice caps and glaciers melted and sea level was higher. In the history of our planet sea level has changed many times. However, we can see temporary variations in sea level of a few meters caused by natural phenomena or more long-term changes caused by human impact.

Natural phenomena: Cyclones and hurricanes are natural phenomena that can cause storm surge, which raises sea level during the storm. Earthquakes can cause tsunamis that lead to coastal flooding. Tides are a daily change of sea level due to the gravitational force between the Earth, Sun and Moon.

Human impact: Air pollution leads to an accumulation of greenhouse gases that enhances the greenhouse effect causing more heat to be trapped in our atmosphere and absorbed by our ocean, warmer water takes up more space causing sea level to rise. This can have a big effect on low-lying islands that may eventually disappear underwater. 

How does the ocean influence weather and climate?

The interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere influences weather and climate through the movement of heat and water vapour. Some phenomena are daily and temporary, our weather, and others are long term, which would be our climate.

What is El Niño and why is upwelling important?

El Niño is part of ENSO, which is an oscillation of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that influences the entire planet. In particular, during an El Niño warm water builds up at the center of the Pacific Ocean causing weather patterns to be different, with more rain in some areas and less in others. The build-up of warm water in the center also stops upwelling. In normal conditions Tradewinds push water from East to West so water is pushed away from the coast of South America, yet during El Niño those Tradewinds are weaker and a warm water block stops upwelling from happening. As upwelling brings nutrients to the coastal ecosystem, anything that limits or lowers upwelling also influences the fisheries. Hence during an El Niño with less upwelling, there are also reduced fisheries in normally productive areas along the Eastern basins. 

How does the ocean help make Earth habitable?

Life as we know it on our planet depends on oxygen, however, when our planet first formed there was no oxygen in the atmosphere. The arrival of oxygen was thanks to ancient organisms that lived in the ocean billions of years ago that caused an oxygen revolution! Even today, the oxygen that we breath comes about 50% from plants on land and 50% from aquatic organisms, some of which are microscopic, drifting organisms while others are large and stationary plants and alga. 

What moves in the whale pump?

The whale pump describes the movement of nutrients, carbon and oxygen thanks to the present of whale in the ecosystem. There are two categories of whales, Misticeti that live in the surface waters and use their baleen to filter microscopic organisms from the water, and Odontoceti toothed whales that hunt for food even deeper in the water column. Both types of cetacens are important because they move nutrients through their excrements (or poo) and help fertilize the surface ocean. When they die, the huge whale carcasses fall to the bottom of the seafloor where they store carbon.

Name and describe son ocean ecosystems:

There are many different ocean habitats including: pelagic (open ocean), sandy seafloor, rocky seafloor, seagrass meadows, gorgonian forests, and intertidal zones. The ecosystems and the combination of the habitats and the marine organisms that live there. 

How are you interconnected with the ocean?

You can be interconnected with the ocean because you use it as a source, a source of resources, health, recreation or knowledge. Or you can be connected to the ocean because it plays a role in transportation and trade, atmospheric conditions such as the weather, national security or tourism.

How much of the ocean do you think is mapped?

When the Ocean Decade started, in 2020, only about 15% of the ocean floor had been mapped. Now, thanks to research and new technologies almost 30% has been mapped, yet a large portion remains to be discovered in greater detail.  

How are humans impacting the ocean and how can you make a difference?

Humans are impacting the ocean negatively, this is called our anthropogenic impact. However, many people are trying to make a difference, each in their own unique way with their own career path. Some negative ways we are impacting the ocean include: accidents with boats, plastic pollution, sonar and military, fishing, by-catch, ghost nets, whale hunting, toxins and mercury, climate change, global warming, intense human activity, invasive species, pollution, habitat degradation, acoustic noise. 

Some positive ways to make an impact for the ocean include:
Individual: changing habits, lower consumption, 5 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse, remove), philanthropy and funding
Community: organizing, participate in initiatives and volunteering
Conservation: protection and restoration
Research: science, data collection (citizen science) and monitoring
Policy: policymaking, law, enforcement, international treaties and activism
Industry: sustainable practices and new technologies
Education & culture: ocean literacy and education, communication and art