• 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 1222 Likes 29599 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
Sea of Hope
SeaLegacy's Sea of Hope episode
Riley can't find the ocean here!
Looking for a tiny dolphin
Why do orca end up stuck on the beach?
What is it like to save an orca?
What is a habitat?
Meet the loggerhead turtle
How do rays breathe underwater?
NZ’s first nature reserve?
What food would a turtle serve you at dinner?
Mangōpare - Hammerhead shark
Riley finds some massive clams!
Catch fish not birds
Fur Seals - A Story of Survival
Why is plastic so bad for sea creatures?
What is an apex predator?
Meet the hawksbill turtle
Which is the easiest piece of rubbish to pick up?
What is Citizen Science?
Which dolphin has the biggest teeth?
Learn to Draw - Hutton's Shearwater
Meet the largest dolphin in the sea
What do turtles use their back flippers for?
Breathing is tricky for a turtle
How do stingrays swim?
What’s bad about plastic?
Learn to Draw - Dusky Dolphin
Turtle rehabilitation
How do slow down zones work?
How 2 Hongi
Dolphins special sleep trick
Crazy plastic journey
Sharks - super fast swimmers
What does a dolphins sonar tell them?
Would you slow down for whales?
How can fur seals hold their breaths?
Why is my dad scared of crabs?
Can you tell the future?
Why do we call this a meatball?
Bethany Hamilton answers our questions
Whose skull am I holding?
How is a ray like a vacuum cleaner?
Does this important job surprise you?
Learn to Draw - Triplefin
Name your favourite sea bird
Where do paddle crabs live?
Meet the striped marlin
Clarke Gayford answers our questions