Tertiary Catalogue

This seminal program is widely suitable for senior level primary science, lower secondary science and at an introductory level in Marine Studies university courses. It looks at the basic lifestyles of organisms in the sea. The first three lifestyles are the most fundamental drifters, swimmers and bottom dwellers. The second three are the basis of all food webs producers, consumers and decomposers. These 3 X 3 basic rules give us a fundamental way of understanding how any ocean ecosystem works. Show Less

In the sea life is everywhere, but five habitats are like underwater cities. They are coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, sea grass beds and kelp forests. They provide safety, food, and a nursery for the young of many species. Yet they are in critical danger because we humans are rapidly destroying them. This programme seeks to explain why these five habitats are very important to life in the sea and to point to the fact that they are all in decline. They are being damaged by human activity... some are being cleared away for ports or housing, some are damaged by trawling nets or dredge silt, as well as pollution, overfishing, or the slow but undeniable outcomes of global warming... to name only a few of the reasons. We need to try and stop this worrying trend. Show Less

In order to survive, every form of life needs to be adapted to its habitat. A ‘habitat’ is the environment or place where an organism lives. And being ‘adapted’ means being well suited or fitted to live there. Otherwise there is no future for its kind. It must adapt or die. This programme looks at a wide range of organisms in the sea. It outlines their basic needs. It introduces the concept of an ecosystem and a food web, the main marine habitats, the basic structure of classification, and gives a simple explanation of evolution. Show Less

In the solar system only earth has life, and clearly that has been made possible because we have oceans of liquid water. But why only on earth? And what are the factors that have made earth’s oceans hospitable to life? If you set up an aquarium you will have to confront some of these issues, because an aquarium has to replicate these factors or everything in it will die. Water temperature, water retention, circulation, oxygenation, temperature stability and maintaining a food chain are the main ones. We set them up artificially in an aquarium, but an aquarium is in fact a microcosm of nature. So how does nature achieve these things? This film looks at a very big picture - the big parameters of life in the sea. We explain why earth is so incredibly lucky that all the factors have come together to support life here. We also mention how they have faltered in the past and so caused extinction events and how, indeed, we should take nothing for granted for the future. Show Less

Everyone likes to visit the beach. But for living things a beach represents one of the toughest environments on earth. Beaches are in constant flux, hammered by waves and wind and extremes of temperature, sometimes submerged and sometimes dry. Beach erosion threatens human activities too. This program looks at many aspects of beaches, from the life in the littoral zone to the basic geology of beaches. Show Less

Estuaries… many of us live on or near an estuary and maybe use it for boating or fishing or swimming, or even just for the view. Estuaries are often at the heart of coastal cities. But what’s their story? What’s happening under the water and why are our estuaries increasingly threatened? This programme defines what an estuary is, explains where they are found, and describes the ways that they are formed. It also includes a case study of a typical estuary and how tidal flow, salt water wedging, seasonal change, human use and pollution are effecting it. Show Less

Photosynthesis supplies all oxygen for life, and it began in the sea. Amazingly, it all relies on one basic kind of chemical reaction that was achieved over two billion years ago by cyanobacteria, and cyanobacteria living as endosymbionts in plants and phytoplankton still produce almost all our oxygen. This programme tells the story of the cyanobacteria, how they changed our planet and are involved in supporting its many life forms. We look at the four major groups that photosynthesise in the sea: cyanobacteria, eucaryote phytoplankton (microalgae), seaweeds (macroalgae), and seagrasses. These groups are responsible for supplying around half the oxygen we breathe—so in terms of understanding the processes that keep us alive, this is a very important story. Show Less

Life in the Sea explains the distinguishing features of the six most common phyla - from the basic body plans of sponges to the sophisticated anatomy of the chordates. The key points of each body plan are explained and how they equip their owners for survival. After watching this program, students will be able to classify the most common marine organisms at the phylum level. Show Less

Life in the sea around Australia seems to be rich. Yet in terms of marine biomass Australia is poor. For example some fifty other countries catch more fish than we do. Why are Australian waters less productive? In this programnm, we look at why some parts of the world’s seas are richer than others. We look at the marine carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, the biological carbon pump, how nutrients are distributed with depth and where and why upwellings occur. We also take a brief look at how humans are affecting the supply of nutrients with fertiliser run-off. Show Less

This programme is about seawater. It is the most important liquid on Earth, not only from its sheer volume, but also because it has remarkable qualities. A few of them, like buoyancy, are common to all liquids - but seawater is also the cradle of life. Three key factors of water underpin life in the sea: water’s dissolving power, its tendency to keep a stable temperature, and its transparency to light. This programme explains the mechanisms and the outcomes of these key facts—and other things—that make seawater both weird and wonderful. Show Less