By Alana Sacks, Gaelen Murray and Willa Hartl

Our other world

Our Other World

By Alana Sacks, Gaelen Murray and Willa Hartl

-TABLE OF CONTENTS-

SUNLIGHT ZONEIntroduction to Sunlight zone and life pg. 1-2

Temperature pg. 3-4Depth and introduction to Twilight zone pg. 5-6

TWILIGHT ZONEIntroduction to Twilight zone, marine snow and other names pg. 7-8

Life pg. 9-10Temperature, depth and introduction to Midnight zone pg. 11-12

MIDNIGHT ZONEIntroduction to midnight zone and life pg. 13-14

temperature pg. 15-16interesting facts and introduction to abyss pg. 16-17

ABYSSIntroduction to Abyss and other names pg. 18-19

Life and temperature pg. 20-21Hydrothermal vents and introduction to Trenches pg. 21-22

TRENCHES Introduction to Trenches, life, and temperature pg. 23-24

The Sunlight Zone

The Twilight Zone

The Midnight Zone

The Abyss

Trenches

1

The Sunlight Zone

Hi! Im a Mola mola, also called a

sunfish. My name is Sunny

because I like bathing on the top

of the water in the sun. Mola

molas range from 6 to 10 feet

long and like to eat jellyfish.

My friends and I are going to take

you on a tour of the five zones of the

ocean! The first is the sunlight zone,

then the twilight zone, then the

midnight zone, the Abyss and last, the

Trenches.

2

I live in the sunlight zone (the prettiest and most

wonderful place!). The sunlight zone is the smallest

zone, but it has the most life. Some of the animals

that live here are snails, sharks, dolphins, whales, sea

turtles, jelly fish, (of course Mola molas!) and many

others. Some of the plants here are seaweed and

coral. Coral is formed by polyps’ skeletons. Many

things live in or on coral and eat things off it. Sea

anemones attach to coral and when a fish swims by,

the anemones kill it with their poison tentacles.

That’s why I never go near them!

3

The Sunlight zone is also called the Epipelagic zone.

The Sunlight Zone

The temperature of the sunlight

zone ranges from 80°F to 27°F

depending on where the ocean is.

44

In Antarctica, the water

would be around 27°F

and in the Caribbean, the

water would be around

80°F

5

The Sunlight Zone

The sunlight zone goes from

the surface down to about 200

meters. Then it becomes the

twilight zone. The sunlight

zone has the most oxygen in it

because it is closest to air.

6

Now we have gone through

the AMAZING sunlight

zone! I cannot go down

any further, so my great

friend, Jaws will tell you

about the next zone, the

Twilight zone.

7

The Twilight Zone

Hi. I’m Jaws. I will guide you through the Twilight zone. I’m hungry. My species is dark green or grey and is 3-6 feet long.

Bye!

The Twilight zone is also called the Mesopelagic (mez-oh-puh-lajic) or Midwater zone. The Mesopelagic zone means, loosely translated, meso: middle and pelagic: relating to the open sea. The Midwater zone nickname is originated from meso. Of course, all the animals call it the Twilight zone because the other names just aren’t scary enough, especially for fear-inducing, fabulous animals such as me.

8

A scrumptious fact about the Twilight zone is that it’s partially dependent on marine snow, which comes from the above layers and occurs in all the zones. Marine snow is made of dead animals, plants and sand. It’s called snow because it’s white and falls slowly. The need for marine snow increases in each zone as there are no plants in most zones. That means all animals below the Sunlight zone are carnivores or scavengers. The base of the food web is marine snow.

9

The Twilight Zone

Many animals here are bioluminescent (bio-loom-en-es-ent), or produce their own light, like a firefly does on land. Also many creatures have long, pointy teeth...like my killer ones!

10

Jaws: I’m now going to interview Ms. Luna Flash, a flashlight fish, also a tasty morsel whom I really want to eat. So, Ms. Flash, how have you adapted to life here?Ms.Flash: Well, I’m

bioluminescent, but I can turn

my light on and off. I’m so

special! And how dare you

want to eat me!

Jaws: Um...can’t think of a question...umMs.Flash: This conversation is so boring... bye bye!

Jaws: Grrrrrr...

11

The Twilight Zone

The temperature in the Twilight zone varies greatly. This zone extends from 200 meters to 1,000 meters, and the depth is the main factor in

temperature. The temperature has a range of 56℉

to 39℉. The pressure doesn’t effect many creatures as they’re adapted to it. Also, there is very little oxygen. And... I really want to scare something!

12

The Twilight zone is the transition from a light, warm zone (which is totally boring compared to this incredibly scary zone, right?) to the dark zone below it. This marks the end of the Twilight zone. Squish, whom I also want to eat, is your next welcoming (maybe) tour guide, to the Midnight zone.

13

The Midnight Zone

Hi Jaws, Please don’t eat me!

I’m a sea cucumber. My name is Squish. I live

partially buried under the sand or on it. I’m like a

soft cucumber.

No plants live here because there is no light and it

isn’t warm enough for them.

14

Not very many animals live here but a few are Lantern

fish, Giant Squid, Vampire Fish, and Sea Sponges.

Most of the fish here are blind or have large eyes.

Some even have huge mouths so they can grab marine

snow or fish swimming past. Most fish here also have

weak muscles because there is no need to swim fast.

The reason is there aren’t many predators here. Some

fish have slimy bodies like me.

15

The temperature in this zone is

about 39° F. This may not seem

very cold but in fact it is.

Freezing is 32°F. So it is almost

freezing!

The midnight zone

16

Another name for the

midnight zone is the

bathypelagic zone. Its called

the midnight zone because its

midnight black down here.

17

The midnight zone

The reason is because this Zone

extends from 1,000 to 4,000

meters, so no sunlight reaches it.

The Midnight zone has immense

water pressure that increases with

depth and has very, very little

oxygen.

18

This is the biggest zone. Of course, the fact that

this zone is so big doesn’t affect me as I mostly stay

in one place. This is the longest I’ve crawled ever!

This is the end of the incredible

Midnight Zone. Hope you enjoyed the

tour! This zone is the best, isn’t it?

Soon you will meet Clementine, your

next host.

Abyss

19

Hi, my name is Clementine. I am called Clementine because I am a

yellowy-orange color. I am a Dumbo octopus and I live in the abyss.

I am eight inches tall and I love to hover above the ocean floor.

20

My zone has 3 names. The first (and easiest to say) is the abyss. The

second name for my layer is the abyssal zone. And if you want to be

scientific you can call it the Abyssopelagic zone.

The name the abyss comes from the Greek word meaning “no

bottom” because the Greek thought the ocean had no bottom.

How funny is that!

Abyss

21

The temperature in the abyss is usually freezing. The only exceptions are

crazy places called hydrothermal vents. They shoot boiling hot water into the

ocean above.

22

There is almost no life here in the abyss, except for

outside of the hydrothermal vents.

Abyss

23

Hydrothermal Vents are

like fountains on the sea floor.

They are found at an average

depth of 7,000 feet. The

Hydrothermal Vents are one

of the only places in the

Abyss to find life. There is no

oxygen and no light in here.

Tube worms and huge clams are the

dominant creatures in the vents in the Pacific

Ocean. Tube worms get their food from the

billions of bacteria inside them. Tube worms

cant eat food because they have no mouth,no

stomach, no intestines, and no way to poop. The

Bacteria turns the chemicals in the water into

food for the tube worms. Eyeless shrimp are

only found in vents in the Atlantic Ocean.

Animals live on hydrothermal vents because of

the heat from the vents and the chemicals they

release.

24

There are two

different kinds of

hydrothermal vents.

The first kind are

called black smokers.

They are the hottest

kind of vent. The

second kind are called

white smokers. They

shoot cooler water

into the ocean above.

Hydrothermal vents are formed by the earths tectonic

plates moving and making cracks in the ocean floor.

The water gets heated by the magma below the

earth’s crust .

The Trenches

25

There are these really scary black holes below me in some parts of

the ocean, called trenches, that I am scared to go near. But one

day I did. I went to one of the deepest ones, called the Challenger

Deep. Let me tell you about it. You might think it was impossible to

live down there because there is no light; It is really cold, and it is

suffocating due to lack of oxygen. But you would be wrong. At the

bottom of the Challenger Deep scientists found one-celled organisms,

called foraminifera I wish I could see one! They are little one-celled

planktons and they can live there.

26

The trenches have three names. The first you

know: trenches. The second name is the hadal

zone, and the third name is the hadalpelagic zone.

Whatever you want to call this zone it is 19,700

to 35,797 feet deep. There can be up to 8 tons

per square inch of water pressure on you when you

are in the Marianas Trench, the deepest one. The

temperature in only slightly above freezing.

My friends and I have now taken

you through all the zones of the

ocean! I hope you enjoyed our

other world!

GLOSSARY

Bioluminescent (Bio·loom·en·es·ent) - Animals that make and give off light from their bodies.

Bathypelagic zone (Bathie·puh·lajic) - Scientific name for Midnight zone.

Mesopelagic zone (Mez·oh·puh·lajic) - Scientific name for Twilight zone.

Abyssopelagic zone (Abiss·oh·puh·lajic) - Scientific name for Abyss.

Hadalpelagic zone (Had·ul·puh·lajic) - Scientific name for Trenches.

Epipelagic zone (E·puh·puh·lajic) - Scientific name for Sunlight zone.

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