Click on a habitat to see which creatures live there!
A short description of New Zealand's ocean environment.
Why not use an old shoebox box to create a place for sea creatures to live?
Start with some rocks or sand (glue it down!) at the bottom, then fill your habitat with a bunch of amazing plants and animals.
Some ideas:
Talk with someone you know about what might live there, including any human impact like fishing nets, plastic, pollution, or passing boats.
A habitat is the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally lives. A habitat provides food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young. For example a coral reef or a sandy beach.
The part of the ocean that is out of sight of land. Most of the ocean is open ocean, but it is often referred to as the 'marine desert' because there is a lot less life living there than in shallow seas.
Sea animals that stay in one place their whole life. Some coral produce a colourful skeleton (which is also called coral) that will remain after they die. Coral are often found grouped in large areas called coral reefs, and they are related to sea anemones and jellyfish.
A long line of jagged rock, coral, or sand just above or below the surface of the ocean. An artificial reef is when a human-made structure creates a reef on the sea floor.
A large, brown, seaweed that lives in cold water and provides a habitat for many other sea creatures.
A place on the coast where ships can safely anchor because it is protected from rough water, wind, and sea currents.
A rocky shore is the area where the sea tide moves up and down, exposing solid rock when the tide is out and covering it with water when it is in. Rocky shores are home to many different animals such as shellfish, birds, sea anemones, and crabs.
