FOOD CHAIN TO SHARKS

1. Let’s take a peek inside the diet of the ocean’s most feared predator. We know sharks eat other fish, sea turtles and seals, but what else can find in the diet of a beast.

2. Food chains always start with a plant because they are producers. A food chain can only go in one direction.

3. Animals get their energy by eating food. Some animals eat fish; some fish eat other fish. Some animals eat plants; (and in the oceans) some plants eat animals. There is a delicate web of the food chain in the ocean which is heavily relied on by humans for survival, economic and recreational use.

4. Every living thing needs energy to survive. This energy is used for everything – growing, moving, even breathing. Plants get their energy from the sun. The green colour in their leaves helps them to capture this energy. Plants are called producers because they produce energy from the sun.

THE SUN     

      PHYTOPLANKTON    

          ZOOPLANKTON       

         MACKEREL                                                                                                   

  SEAL           SHARK                                                                         

1. Source – The Sun (creates energy for plants to produce food)
2. Plants of the ocean- Phytoplankton (makes food)
3. Insects of the ocean- Conchs (zooplankton)
4. Cows of the ocean- Anchovy-Sardines (plankton eating fish)
5. Wolf of the ocean- Tuna and Mackerel (fish eating fish)
6. Top predator- Sharks (fish eating fish)

5. The living creatures in a food chain depend on each other to survive. If one part of the food chain dies out, then the animals which consume that will either die out or have to find another prey. If they find a different prey, then this can have an effect on another food chain.
6. It is important that humans take care not to damage food chains and eat sustainably sourced food. Changes to the environment, caused by pollution or global warming can lead to certain animals becoming extinct, affecting lots of food chains. We should do everything we can to protect habitats, food chains and the animals which depend on them.

WRITTEN BY: LANA SAMUELS