• Video
  • Map
  • Words

What is a food chain?

Follow an underwater food chain from bottom to top. He aha tēnei mea te tāhūhū whakapeto? Whāia tētahi tāhūhū whakapeto mai i raro ki runga. Click the [CC] icon in the video player to view Te Reo subtitles.
01:17 1223 Likes 30639 Views
Autoplay on
Like
Favourite

What is a food chain?

Play again

Links


Activities

Food chain

 

A food chain shows how each living thing gets food and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains start with plant life and end with animal life.

Kelp

 

A large, brown, seaweed that lives in cold water and provides a habitat for many other sea creatures.

Kina

 

Kina, or sea urchins, are a small sea creature the lives in shallow water. They have a round shell which is covered in sharp needle-like spines. Kina are eaten by crayfish, as well as humans, and they like to eat seaweed or kelp.

Carpet shark

 

A carpet shark, or pekapeka in Māori, is a small shark who lives in shallow waters and whose skin resembles a patterned carpet.

Crayfish

 

Crayfish, or kōura in Māori, are also called Spiny Rock Lobster. They are a creature with long antennae, no claws, and a hard 'exoskeleton' or shell which they need to cast off in order to grow bigger. In some areas it is customary for Māori to make sure that the kōura has all of it's limbs when taken. Why? If a kōura loses a leg or antenna when it is taken, other kōura might see that as a reason to leave the area!

Click for more words!
Learn to Draw
Interviews with Experts
Hauraki Gulf
YOE adventures
Riley can't find the ocean here!
Sea of Hope
SeaLegacy's Sea of Hope episode
What is it like to save an orca?
Where do whales and dolphins hang out?
What do pipis and cockles do?
What’s a marine current?
Why make friends with a killer whale?
How to swim with a snorkel
What’s bad about plastic?
Meet the bravest fish in the ocean!
Would you slow down for whales?
Where did all the kelp go?
Fantastic Wheke facts!
Which fish's poo makes sand?
Chicks in the Hauraki Gulf?
Where would you like to study the ocean?
Which camouflage skill would you like?
Kūtai and Weaving
Riley talks to a world record holder!
Growing up is tough in a spiky shell
How can we care for our dolphins?
What is a habitat?
Which fish's poo makes sand?
Which fish's poo makes sand?
Where do Māui dolphins live?
What is orca chocolate?
Riley searches for sharks
Annoying species
Name this marine pest
How did fur seals get their name?
Hope Stories: Replacing coffee cups
Riley finds humpback whales!
Favourite marine reserve?
What is in a name?
Name this marine pest
How do marine pests get to NZ
Should we protect our seabirds?
Riley explores a marine park
Fur seal Dad jokes
Riley's amazing orca discovery
Which fish's poo makes sand?
Where did all the kelp go?
Aihe (dolphin)
How far do little blue penguins swim?
What is a habitat?
How do spiny rock lobsters grow?
Riley explores a coral reef
Riley explores a marine park
Why call it a carpet shark?