ocean photos of great white sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, scuba divers, tropical fish, crustaceans and other sea life
ocean photos of great white sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, scuba divers, manta rays and marine life by Stephen Brunson underwater photography of great white sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, seals, manta rays, scuba divers, turtles and many marine creatures ocean photos of great white sharks and dolphins by Stephen Brunson Award winning underwater photography of great white sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, blue sharks, manta rays, turtles, seals, and tropical fish All about underwater photographer and scuba diver Stephen Brunson underwater photos of great white sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, scuba divers and other sea life by Stephen Brunson free screensavers, free wallpaper, free animations Underwater and ocean links. Reciprocal link exchange
Picture of a great white shark. The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, belongs to the group known as mackerel sharks. Other species in this group include the salmon shark, shortfin mako, longfin mako, and porbeagle. All of these are fast-swimming, streamlined hunters; all are thought to be dangerous to man. The great white shark is one of the most efficient predators on Earth, able to locate its prey with astounding accuracy and kill it with a single, devastating bite. As the sharks attacks, its snout lifts out of the way and the upper and lower jaws protrude to align the teeth and increase biting capacity.
Welcome to the Underwater Photography of Stephen Brunson. Here you'll find the best gallery of Ocean Photos on the web, including photos from the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Coral Sea, Caribbean, and the Sea of Cortez. Great White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), Blue Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Black Tip Sharks, Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus), Manta Rays, Seals, Turtles, Tropical Fish, and many more dazzling photos of ocean life await you!!

Mission Statement:

To Amaze, Educate, Excite, Preserve and Protect our Oceans for the Survival of All Living Species on the Ocean Planet.    Stephen Brunson, BrunsonImages and staff

 

© Copyright 2008 Stephen Brunson

Click here to see Teeth, Claws and Jaws, a 5 minute video by Steve Brunson about the inhabitants and predators of the seas.
This film was featured in the 2006 37th annual San Diego Underwater Film Festival
by the San Diego Underwater Photographic Society at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography Theater.



Ocean and Oceanography:

A great body of salt water comprising all the oceans and seas that cover nearly three-fourths of the surface of the earth, and the scientific study of the physical, chemical, and the biological aspects of the so-called world ocean. The major goals of oceanography are to understand the geologic and geo-chemical processes involved in the evolution and alteration of the ocean and its basin, to evaluate the interaction of the ocean and the atmosphere so that greater knowledge of climactic variations can be attained, and to describe how the biological productivity in the sea is controlled.

The world ocean covers 71 percent of the earth's surface, or about 361 million square kilometers, or about 140 million square miles. Its average depth is 5000m or 16,000 ft., and its total volume is about 1,347,000,000 cubic km, or 332,3000,000 cubic miles!

From the shorelines of the continents a submerged part of the continental mass, called the continental shelf, extends seaward an average distance of 75km (43 mi); it varies in width from nearly zero to 1500 km (930 mi). The shelf gives way abruptly at a depth of about 200 m (660 ft) to a steeper zone known as the continental slope, which descends about 3500 m (12,000 ft). The continental rise, a gradually sloping zone of sediment that is considered part of the ocean bottom, extends about 600 km (370 mi) from the base of the continental slope to the flat abyssal plains of the deep-ocean floor. In the central parts of the oceans are the mid-ocean ridges, which are extensive mountain chains with inner troughs that are heavily intersected by cracks, called fracture zones. The ridges are sections of a continuous system that winds for 60,000 km (40,000 mi) through all the oceans.

Today's dating techniques: Thorium-230 dating is applicable to samples younger than 300,000 years, potassium argon dating is for samples in the range of 75,000 years, and carbon-14 dating is for samples younger than 40,000 years. A geophysical dating method is also commonly used; it determines the magnetic orientation of sediment particles, since it is now known that the earth's magnetic field has reversed its orientation several times in the past few million years. Such dating techniques indicate that the ocean basins are no older then 200 million years.

Conservation: The decline of the whaling industry in recent years is a strong case against rapid and unwise exploitation of oceanic food resources. Food from the sea will be a good source of protein, but cannot meet the total world demand for calories in the future. The present yield of about 60 million tons a year supplies about 60 trillion kilocalories, or about 2 percent of the calories needed by the present world population. These 60 million tons yield about 12 million tons of protein, which is nearly 30 percent of the needs of the world at the present time.

 Pollution: Because the sea is expected to yield still larger quantities of valuable resources in the future, and because the water itself is now being used on a small scale through desalination, the concern for preserving the integrity of the ocean has grown, The contaminative effect of increasing technological development and industrialization has already been known to disrupt and destroy the fragile coastal ecology by indiscriminate discharge of industrial and municipal waste products into the sea. The pollution of the marine environment by petroleum and chemical spillage and sewage disposal has helped focus world attention on the need for controlled use of resources and planned disposal of waste products. Other pollution concerns are the effects of insecticides and pesticides on marine fish and birds, increasing levels of lead in the surface waters, and the disposal of hot water from power plants into the sea with untold effects on marine life.
© Copyright 2007 Stephen Brunson

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Keywords: great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, whale, Rhincodon typus, Tropical fish, Blue Sharks, Black Tip Shark, Manta Rays, Seals, Turtles, Pacific ocean, Atlantic ocean, coral, Sea of Cortez, salmon, mako, reef, underwater, ocean, photography