What happens when a fish dies (in the ocean)?

Scavengers and decomposers make up a huge segment of the life in the sea. What actually happens to a dead fish in the ocean depends upon where it dies. read more

What actually happens to a dead fish in the ocean depends upon where it dies. In the open ocean, a large fish, like a tuna, may make it all the way to the bottom of the sea before it is significantly consumed by various hagfish, crabs and other arthropods, various worms, and bacteria. read more

Not much, if anything, dies of old age in the ocean. There is the odd creature that is either so good at hiding or so fast or lucky that it grows to an old age, but even then, it will eventually grow weak. read more

Overfishing is already a huge problem, but if you add in declining phytoplakton populations due to ocean acidifcation, you have an even bigger problem. Plankton are the base of the marine food web, without them all larger organisms will probably die. No plankton=no fish= no food for millions of people. read more

As it happens, the ocean transcends national borders to maintain life everywhere on Earth. Yet, lamentably, the ocean is used and abused like a local trash dump on the edge of town, circa 1950s. And, connecting the dots of (1) ocean health or (2) ocean degradation and (3) survival of humanity is an exercise easily accomplished because the dots seamlessly connect all the way around the planet. read more