• Poll
  • Map

Which habitat would you rather live in?

Play Sound
371 Likes 15280 Views
Autoplay on
Play Video
Like
Favourite

Which habitat would you rather live in?

Play again

Links

Sea Creatures by Habitat (New Zealand Marine Studies Centre)

Click on a habitat to see which creatures live there!

 

New Zealand's Ocean Environment (Ministry for the Environment)

A short description of New Zealand's ocean environment.


Activities

Create: A shoebox habitat

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:

  • A kelp forest filled with starfish, crabs, and jellyfish
  • A reef bustling with colourful fishes and coral
  • Or an offshore area where dolphins, sharks, and whales hang out

Talk with someone you know about what might live there, including any human impact like fishing nets, plastic, pollution, or passing boats.

Habitat

 

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.

Open ocean

 

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.

Coast

 

The land near a sea shore (where the land meets the sea).

Coral

 

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.

Reef

 

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.

Kelp

 

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

Harbour

 

A place on the coast where ships can safely anchor because it is protected from rough water, wind, and sea currents.

Rocky shore

 

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.

Click for more words!
Learn to Draw
Interviews with Experts
Hauraki Gulf
YOE adventures
Sea of Hope
SeaLegacy's Sea of Hope episode
Riley can't find the ocean here!
Which habitat would you rather live in?
Orca Dad jokes
Name your favourite sea bird
Whai & Navigation
Learn to Draw - Orca
Stop plastic!
How many marine reserves?
What does a shark eat?
Does this important job surprise you?
Why make friends with a killer whale?
How can blind dolphins catch fish?
How many eggs does this huge fish lay?
Riley explores a coral reef
Help us save our oceans?
What are zooplankton?
Chicks in the Hauraki Gulf?
Learn to draw - Crayfish
Learn to Draw - Snapper
How gross are crayfish?
What is a habitat?
Can a girl fish become a boy fish?
Should we care about sea birds?
Would you slow down for whales?
Where do most living things live?
Kaitiaki
Would you eat a paddle crab?
What does a dolphins sonar tell them?
How many whales?
Protection in the ocean
Māori name for Hauraki Gulf?
Learn to Draw - Blue Whale
Where would you like to study the ocean?
Where did all the kelp go?
Riley's amazing ocean journey
Ways to use less plastic
Disappearing sea life?
Hope Stories - Kids want a Marine reserve
What is an apex predator?
Breathing is tricky for a turtle
Why is plastic so bad for sea creatures?
A swimming crab, WHAT?
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke answer our questions
Riley explores a coral reef
What sea animal eats like a cow?
What is orca chocolate?
Riley's big Māui dolphin adventure
How do marine pests get to NZ
<