Maine Needs A Healthy Ocean

There are many habitats in the Gulf of Maine and all of them are important to the people of our state

Victoria Sea grass beds are found in shallow places or near the shore. www. Marinelife. About.com /p/ seagrass Victoria

Many plants and animals live in sea grass beds. Some of them are: sea horses, sea turtles, lobsters and schools of baby fish. Isaiah

Sea grass beds are important to the people of Maine because lobsters and baby fish eat nutrients made by the grass and they live there. Isaiah

Sea grass beds are in danger when big stoms tear up the grass. Also when the weather changes it damages the sea grass beds. Pollution also can hurt the sea grass beds. Www. Marinelife. About.com /p/ seagrass Victoria

We can help to keep the sea grass beds healthy by not throwing trash in the sea grass beds and by changing the nets on fishing boats.. About.com/p/seagrass Victoria

I bet you’re wondering what a coral is. It’s a thin shelled animal that attaches to rocks like a snail and has feathery tentacles. Ben

Cold water corals are important to the people of Maine because many types of fish and shelled animals live there. http// Eric

Many plants and animals live in cold water corals, Some of them are wolf fish, sponges, sharks, lobster, crabs, sea turtes, star fish, sea snails, and monkfish. Eric

What are the problems faced by cold water corals? 1. Fishing nets that drag on the bottem of the ocean destroy corals. These are called rockhopper nets. 2. Rising tempetures caused by global warming will also destroy corals. s Caleb

What can we do to help? Don’t put weights on nets and send notes to lawmakers to tell the destruction of rockhoppers. Also, try to tell fishermen the same and ask them to use different nets. Ben

Salt water marshes are grassy places that are near the shoreline. Bella

Salt water marshes have many plants and animals. Some of them are fish, mussels, eels and crabs. saltmarshlife.com/salt-marsh/animals.html Garrett

Salt water marshes are important to the people of Maine. They hold soil and also they help feed many small animals. Bella

Some of the problems faced by salt water marshes are that they’re filled in by people to build houses. Fertilizers from crops pollute salt marshes. Salt marshes were drained to use the land. Bella

We can help salt water marshes by stopping people from draining them and filling them in for building roads. gmri.com Hailey

Shellfish beds are places on or rear the shore where many shellfish live together. Landon

Many plants and animals live in shellfish beds. Some of them are crabs, snails, sea stars and clams. gmri.gov Angel

Shellfish beds are important to the people of Maine because many people harvest and sell shellfish. Also,shellfish filter the water when they eat. Landon

What problems do shellfish beds face? 1. Red tide closes shellfish beds because it makes the shellfish poisionous to eat. 2. Pollution kills shellfish. Landon

We can help shell fish beds by not taking too many shellfish. We should not throw garbage in the ocean. Angel

Kelp Beds are made of many different types of seaweed on a rocky bottom. Isaac

Many plants and animals live in kelp beds. Some of them are sea urchins blood stars sea slugs and a lot more http/:/ Ryan

Kelp beds are important because they give food and shelter to many kinds of animals. Kelp plants are harvested for many products. http;//. Isaac

Some of the problems faced by kelp beds are too much kelp harvesting and over fishing. Ryan

We can help kelp beds by using different fishing nets and do not take too much kelp from the ocean. We need to stop pollution. Victoria

All of these habitats in the ocean are important to the people of Maine. Many people in Maine make a living catching ocean animals to make seafood dinners for people who live here. Many people come to Maine to visit our ocean and eat our seafood.

A Healthy Maine Ocean was created by Mrs. Bourgeois’ third grade class. May, 2013 Emily