Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
#ocean #ecosystems #plankton #photosynthesis #ngscience @NGScience
ngscience.com
In the last Ocean video, we plunged beneath the waves to uncover the incredible diversity of life in our ocean—from colourful coral reefs to glowing creatures of the deep, from icy polar seas to vast open waters.
We saw that the ocean isn’t just one world, but many—each teeming with life, each connected to the delicate balance of our planet.
In this video, we'll explore the significance and importance of the ocean to people—our existence and our way of life.
The ocean doesn’t just give us beautiful beaches and crashing waves—it helps us breathe. Scattered throughout the ocean and floating near the surface are tiny, microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. Using sunlight to produce energy, just as plants on land do, they take in carbon dioxide and water to produce food in the form of glucose and release oxygen in the process.
In fact, more than half of the oxygen in the air we breathe comes from the ocean—mostly from phytoplankton and other photosynthesising algae. Phytoplankton are found in every part of our ocean, and in nutrient-rich areas, their blooms can stretch for hundreds of kilometres.
By photosynthesising day in and day out, they not only provide us with oxygen but also help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, playing a quiet but powerful role in slowing climate change.
But phytoplankton aren’t just important for the air—they’re also the first link in the ocean’s food chain. Tiny animals like krill and small fish feed on them, and those animals are eaten by bigger fish, marine invertebrates, and marine mammals like dolphins, sea lions, and whales. This rich and complex food web supports life all across the ocean—including the seafood relied on by billions of people around the world.
#ocean #ecosystems #plankton #photosynthesis #ngscience @NGScience
ngscience.com
In the last Ocean video, we plunged beneath the waves to uncover the incredible diversity of life in our ocean—from colourful coral reefs to glowing creatures of the deep, from icy polar seas to vast open waters.
We saw that the ocean isn’t just one world, but many—each teeming with life, each connected to the delicate balance of our planet.
In this video, we'll explore the significance and importance of the ocean to people—our existence and our way of life.
The ocean doesn’t just give us beautiful beaches and crashing waves—it helps us breathe. Scattered throughout the ocean and floating near the surface are tiny, microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. Using sunlight to produce energy, just as plants on land do, they take in carbon dioxide and water to produce food in the form of glucose and release oxygen in the process.
In fact, more than half of the oxygen in the air we breathe comes from the ocean—mostly from phytoplankton and other photosynthesising algae. Phytoplankton are found in every part of our ocean, and in nutrient-rich areas, their blooms can stretch for hundreds of kilometres.
By photosynthesising day in and day out, they not only provide us with oxygen but also help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, playing a quiet but powerful role in slowing climate change.
But phytoplankton aren’t just important for the air—they’re also the first link in the ocean’s food chain. Tiny animals like krill and small fish feed on them, and those animals are eaten by bigger fish, marine invertebrates, and marine mammals like dolphins, sea lions, and whales. This rich and complex food web supports life all across the ocean—including the seafood relied on by billions of people around the world.
