How Much Do You Know About Life in the High Seas?
Beginning 200 miles from coastal shores, beyond the jurisdiction of any country, the high seas are home to a vast array of species and unique ecosystems that help support life on Earth.
Learn more about why the high seas need protection, and why we must have a global mechanism in place to protect marine life in these international waters.
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# wrong text: Sorry, that's incorrect. # right text: That's correct! # social text incomplete: How Much Do You Know About Life in the High Seas? Test yourself and share your results. %23HighSeas # social text complete: I took the I took the High Seas Biodiversity Quiz and got a {score} out of {total_questions}. Try it yourself and see how much you know about biodiversity in the %23HighSeas. # _imgurl : /-/media/post-launch-images/2021/05/high_seas/ ? The high seas hold astonishing biodiversity, with organisms ranging from tiny plankton and bacteria to whales, sharks, tuna, and more—all of which need healthy waters to survive. This haven for biodiversity represents what percent of the occupied habitat of the Earth? (!img[Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images]({_imgurl}q1.jpg) /!) + 95% ! The high seas make up two-thirds of the world's ocean, and scientists estimate that these waters represent about 95% of the Earth’s occupied habitat, but we have much to learn about these waters. Scientists estimate that more than 80% of the global ocean remains unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. - 80% - 60% - 70% ? The high seas are a marine superhighway for migratory ocean wildlife. Which species of sea turtle spends 78% of the year navigating these open waters? (!img[Shutterstock]({_imgurl}q2.jpg) /!) - Green sea turtle - Loggerhead turtle + Leatherback sea turtle ! Unlike other marine turtles, the leatherback turtle does not have a hard, bony carapace, or shell. Instead, as its name implies, it has a tough, rubbery shell composed of cartilage-like tissues. Weighing up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), they are the largest living turtle on the planet and can swim more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) a year to reach their nesting grounds. - Olive ridley turtle ? This fish nicknamed the “slimehead” is one of the longest-living in the ocean. It’s particularly vulnerable to overfishing because it typically does not reach spawning age until it’s at least 27 years old. What is this fish actually named? (!img[AD Rogers/University of Oxford/NERC]({_imgurl}q3.jpg) /!) + Orange roughy ! This species can live for more than 150 years and is found in the North and South Atlantic, the Southern Indian Ocean, the Tasman Sea, and in the South Pacific—both within countries’ exclusive economic zones and on the high seas. - Stripped Raphael catfish - Zebra danio - Hagfish ? Which of these species is found at the bottom of the deep sea in a biodiversity hot spot nestled between Australia and New Zealand? (Hint: Its features are reminiscent of one of Walt Disney’s most beloved characters.) (!img[NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research]({_imgurl}q4.jpg) /!) - White shark - Southern right whale + Dumbo octopus ! The Dumbo octopus is the deepest-living genus of all known octopus. This species is found in the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea, one of the most biodiverse and productive waters beyond national jurisdiction. Recent expeditions to these waters have found hundreds of marine species, many of them new to science and quite possibly occurring nowhere else. - Purple crinoid ? These two species of seabirds, which spend nearly 40% of their lifetime on the high seas, are considered among the most threatened of all bird groups. (!img[Lt. Elizabeth Crapo/NOAA Corps/NOAA Photo Library]({_imgurl}q5.jpg) /!) - Blue-footed booby and common murre - Tern and Atlantic puffin - Northern gannet and European shag + Albatross and large petrels ! According to a recent study, albatrosses and large petrels spend 39% of their time way out at sea in waters beyond national jurisdiction. The authors concluded that the lack of adequate protections, including from bycatch in high seas fisheries, will continue to be a threat to these seabirds, with more than half of the species at risk of extinction. ? This species of baleen whale consumes about 4 tons of krill a day. It is also the largest animal to have ever existed. Its tongue weighs as much as an elephant and its heart as much as an automobile. These baleen whales spend up to 30% of the year in the high seas. What species are they? (!img[seapics.com]({_imgurl}q6.jpg) /!) - Killer whale + Blue whale ! In the ocean, it pays to be big. Spanning up to 100 feet and weighing up to 200 tons, the blue whale is bigger than the largest dinosaur. To consume enough food to sustain its gargantuan mass, it must traverse ocean basins to highly productive feeding grounds. Luckily, being so big means that the blue whale can push through the water quite effectively. - Monmouth whale - Sperm whale ? Based on overwhelming evidence, scientists agree that a network of effectively managed marine protected areas on the high seas could yield the following benefit(s): (!img[The Pew Charitable Trusts]({_imgurl}q7.jpg) /!) - Safeguard biodiversity - Protect top predators and maintain ecosystem balance - Build resilience to climate change + All of the above ! Scientists have found that no-take marine reserves are effective tools for restoring and preserving biodiversity and can help protect predators by maintaining naturally functioning food webs and associated ecosystem services. Also, marine reserves can make marine ecosystems more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, such as coral bleaching and deoxygenation.