Why Marine Biology?
Marine Biology is the scientific study of animals, plants and other organisms that live in or near the ocean and other saltwater environments such as estuaries and wetlands. We study marine life to understand and preserve the world we live in. Approximately 72% of the surface of our ocean planet is covered by salt water. The average ocean depth is 3.8 km with a volume equal to a mile square column of ocean water over 300 million miles high. That’s equivalent to 1,376 times the distance to the Moon, 3.5 times the distance to the Sun, and 2.3 times the distance to Mars. And life exists throughout this immense volume. The ocean constitutes the single largest (>90%) repository of organisms on the planet consisting of members from virtually all phyla—a tremendous diversity of life—life that is critical to the well-being of humankind.