13.6 Deep sea

• Biologie
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

13.6

Learning objectives

You will learn about the adjustments that animals living in the deep sea have made.

Bioluminescence

animals glow in the dark; occurs a lot in animals that live in the deep sea

Bioluminescence

- Lure prey

- Communicate

- Scare away predators

Many deep sea fish have:

- Large teeth

- Flexible stomach

Anglerfish from finding nemo

Deep sea reproduction

Example anglerfish

Whales

Blowhole = a kind of nostril on top of a whale’s head

Descends to up to 2.5 kilometres below the surface in order to hunt for cephalopods (octopus, squid..)

air pressure = 1 bar/ 10 metres

rete mirabile = network of blood vessels that can either contain a lot of blood or less blood, depending on the circumstances

 under water for over 75 minutes

Spermaceti

= fatty substance in a sperm whale’s head; controls the gliding down and floating of a sperm whale

>37 0C = liquid (resurfacing)

< 30 0C = solid (diving)

Diving (cooling down)

1 Rete mirabile: blood from cool skin flows along the spermaceti organ.

2 inhaling cold water.

The sperm whale’s density increases:

 it starts sinking.

Resurfacing (warming up)

1 Rete mirabile: warm blood from the body flows along the spermaceti organ.

The sperm whale’s density decreases:

 it ascends.

Check your answers of 13.6