Marine Studies I 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 9 lessons:

1 Marine Ecology Systems

• Ecology; Marine Weather (including El Nino, Thermocline, Gulf streams, etc)
• Continental shelf
• Nutrient cycle
• Red tide
• Plankton
• Marine Plants (including Mangroves, Shallow & Deep water algae, etc)

2 Shallow Waters & Reefs

• Coral Reefs
• Rocky Shorelines
• Estuaries
• Introduction to marine arthropods

3 Shellfish & Crustaceans

• Molluscs and Brachiopods. True Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Lobsters, Prawns etc

4 Squid, Octopus, and Other Primitive Animals

• (Cephalopods and Clupeoids, etc)

5 Fish Part A

• (Cartilaginous Fish) Sharks, Eels, Rays; Shark Lifecycle, How dangerous are sharks? Effect of sharks on tourism, etc.

6 Fish Part B

• (Bony Fish) Fish Anatomy/structure (identifying external & internal parts); legalities (protection of wildlife), types of fish, etc

7 Marine Mammals

• Dolphins, Whales, etc
• Types of marine mammals
• Protection and politics
• Position of these animals in the food chain
• Products derived from marine mammals & substitutes for those products.

8 Turtles, Sea Snakes and Seabirds

• Types of turtles & sea snakes
• toxicity of sea snakes
• turtle protection
• penguins and other sea birds (eg stints, knots, pelicans, swans, gulls, eagles, ibis, egrets, terns, shearwaters, gannets, albatross, prions, oyster-catchers and petrels).

9 Human Impact on Marine Environments & Fishing

• Human impact on marine environments
• commercial vs recreational fishing
• significance of certain mesopelagic fish
• techniques for managing stocks of fish & other marine life.