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How do polynyas help feed emperor penguins?

emperor penguins

When female emperor penguins—and later, males—return to the ocean to feed, they need a spot that gives them easy access to both the water and the ice. And, they also need places that are teeming with fish and other types of prey. Learn how polynyas provide a place where penguins can feast and build their energy reserves after breeding.

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Sea level rises when land sinks

land sinking

People around the world are worried about rising sea levels. Much of this increase comes from melting polar ice and ocean waters that expand as they warm. But along many coastlines, sea level rises much more than we might expect simply from changes in the ocean.

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Why is glacier ice blue?

When sunlight shines on a field of snow, it reflects a bright-even blinding-white. But if you get a good look at the leading edge of a glacier, you’ll find that the ice inside is a brilliant blue.

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Is glacier ice actually rock?

glacier

In places where it gets cold and snowy in winter, many meters of snow can fall. In some the following winter, adding a new layer to what was already there. Over hundreds to thousands of years, this process creates big sheets of ice called glaciers.

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How do corals form colonies?

coral colony

If you stare at just one spot on a coral reef, your eyes could be seeing more than 1,000 animals per square foot. That’s because the thing that makes up most of these marine ecosystems are tiny living animals called coral polyps, which exist on the surface of reef formations.

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What makes the ocean salty?

beach

The water flowing into the ocean comes from freshwater streams and rivers. These bodies of water do contain salt. It dissolves from rocks on land. That’s because rain is slightly acidic.

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Are corals plants, animals, or rocks?

Coral and Giant clam, Tridacna

The base of a coral reef is coral, but what is coral? If you look at a piece of coral that washed up on shore, it’s solid and tough with rough edges and little pits.

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Why do corals bleach?

coral

Corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae. The algae gives corals their color and provides them with food. In return, corals provide the algae with a place to live.

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Creature Feature: Ctenophores

Bioluminescent blue-green “combs jellies” light up coastal shores at night, as well as the depths of the twilight zone, where a number of species have yet to be formally described.

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Creature Feature: Penguins

King penguins on the South Sandwich Islands. Photo by Ian Parker on Unsplash.

We might chuckle at the sight of penguins waddling over ice and belly-flopping into iceberg-studded waters, but these flightless birds would put Olympic swimmers to shame.

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Creature Feature: Elephant Seal

Elephant seal

These enormous, blubbery marine mammals awkwardly belly-flop around on land, but are elegantly adapted for life in the twilight zone—where they spend 90% of their at-sea time.

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