Marine Life Basics
Question: What is the largest marine animal?
Answer: Blue Whale
Question: What species of tuna is highly prized?
Answer: Albacore
Question: What is the world's oceans largest living reptile?
Answer: Estuarine Crocodile
Question: Which fish is known for its vibrant orange and white stripes?
Answer: Clownfish
Question: What is a common food source for many marine animals?
Answer: Plankton
Question: What is the name of a daily trivia question related to marine life?
Answer: Today’s trivia removing plastic
Question: What is a major issue affecting the ocean and marine life?
Answer: Plastic pollution
Question: Which marine mammal is known for its vocal and social behavior?
Answer: Dolphin
Question: What is the main function of gills in fish?
Answer: Breathing
Question: Which marine organism is known for its ability to camouflage by changing color?
Answer: Octopus
Question: What marine animal is affected by single-use plastics in the ocean?
Answer: Sea Turtle
Question: What type of whale is the Blue Whale?
Answer: A baleen whale species
Question: What fish can inflate itself as a defense mechanism?
Answer: Pufferfish
Question: Which marine creature is a major contributor to oceanic oxygen production?
Answer: Phytoplankton
Question: What type of fish has both eyes located on one side?
Answer: Flounder
Question: What is the world’s largest flatfish?
Answer: Halibut
Question: What is the most intelligent invertebrate found in the sea?
Answer: Octopus
Question: What marine mammal is known for its tusks and whiskers?
Answer: Walrus
Question: What marine organism plays a big role in the removal of plastics from the ocean?
Answer: Parley Global Cleanup Network
Question: Which marine mammal has long, wide pectoral fins?
Answer: Humpback Whale
Question: What creature is known as a “sea cow”?
Answer: Manatee
Question: What is the common feature of echinoderms like starfish?
Answer: Radial symmetry
Question: What fish species is known for its elongated body and large head?
Answer: Hake
Question: What is the primary function of plankton in the world’s oceans?
Answer: Primary producers
Question: Which marine animal is affected by plastic waste in the ocean?
Answer: Sea Turtle
Marine Invertebrates and Microorganisms
Question: What type of marine invertebrate feeds by straining seawater with its feathery tentacles?
Answer: Fan Worm
Question: What tiny crustacean is an important food source for marine animals?
Answer: Krill
Question: What marine mollusk has a distinctive spiral shell?
Answer: Conch
Question: Which marine organism produces oxygen and sequesters carbon?
Answer: Phytoplankton
Question: What type of marine life forms the general foundation of the ocean food chain?
Answer: Plankton
Question: Which marine organism contributes significantly to the recycling of nutrients on the ocean floor?
Answer: Microorganisms
Question: What ancient marine microorganisms make up about 70% of marine biomass?
Answer: Microbes
Question: What is the primary role of viruses in marine ecosystems?
Answer: Regulating saltwater ecosystems
Question: Which deep-sea fish has long, sharp teeth and an illuminated bell-shaped lure?
Answer: Viper Fish
Question: What is the common name for the tiny, two-shelled crustacean called an ostracod?
Answer: Seed Shrimp
Question: What marine organism has a transient anus that forms only when it needs to defecate?
Answer: Sea Walnut
Question: What is the primary role of bacteria in the marine carbon cycle?
Answer: Recycling carbon on the ocean floor
Question: What is the world’s largest known bacterium?
Answer: Thiomargarita namibiensis
Question: Which marine invertebrate is known for having a protective cover of bacteria?
Answer: Pompeii Worm
Question: What marine archaea is known for producing methane?
Answer: Methanosarcina barkeri
Question: What organism makes up the largest portion of the marine biomass?
Answer: Microorganisms
Question: Which marine bacteria is the most abundant in the ocean?
Answer: Pelagibacter ubique
Question: What is a common shape for many archaea?
Answer: Flat and square-shaped
Question: Which ancient marine microorganism is known for being an extremophile?
Answer: Thermophiles
Question: What is a major challenge faced by sea life on the ocean floor?
Answer: Plastic pollution and plastic waste
Question: What type of bony fish is known for its ability to survive on the sea floor?
Answer: Flounder
Question: What marine invertebrate is affected by plastic pollution?
Answer: Coral polyps
Question: Which sea creature is a venomous marine reptile?
Answer: Sea Snakes
Question: What is the estimated number of marine species documented as of 2023?
Answer: More than 242,000
Question: Which marine microorganism is essential for nutrient cycling in the ocean?
Answer: Microbes
Marine Vertebrates and Evolution
Question: What event is thought to have triggered the Cambrian explosion?
Answer: Accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere
Question: Which marine animal is closely related to dolphins but with a different-shaped nose and teeth?
Answer: Porpoise
Question: What is the earliest animal genus found in the fossil record?
Answer: Dickinsonia
Question: Which marine mammal is known for its long tusks and whiskers?
Answer: Walrus
Question: Which group of marine animals returned to the ocean after evolving on land?
Answer: Sea snakes, sea turtles, seals, manatees, and whales
Question: What is the term for the common ancestor from which all life on Earth descended?
Answer: LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)
Question: What is the estimated age of the Earth?
Answer: 4.54 billion years
Question: What type of marine animal is known for having a distinctive quilted appearance in fossils?
Answer: Ediacara biota
Question: What early marine organism is thought to be an ancestor of mollusks?
Answer: Kimberella
Question: What whale species is the Blue Whale part of?
Answer: Baleen whales
Question: What marine vertebrate is known for having a large brain and complex social behaviors?
Answer: Dolphin
Question: What is the estimated number of marine species documented as of 2023?
Answer: More than 242,000
Question: Which marine invertebrate is considered the most basal animal?
Answer: Sponges
Question: What is the primary characteristic that distinguishes animals from plants?
Answer: Lack of cell walls
Question: What marine organism is known for its biradial symmetry?
Answer: Ctenophores
Question: What group of marine invertebrates is known for their hard exoskeleton?
Answer: Arthropods
Question: What marine animal evolved from single-celled eukaryotes?
Answer: Protists
Question: What is the earliest evidence of life on Earth found in Western Australia?
Answer: Microbial mat fossils
Question: What marine organism is thought to have a cooperative association with algae to form chloroplasts?
Answer: Cyanobacteria
Question: Which marine animal is most likely to ingest single-use plastics in the ocean?
Answer: Sea Turtle
Question: What is the primary purpose of the Parley Global Cleanup Network?
Answer: Plastic removal from the world’s oceans
Question: Which marine invertebrate is known for having a ribbed oval shape?
Answer: Dickinsonia
Question: What marine invertebrate is most at risk from the plastic problem?
Answer: Coral
Question: What marine organism is known to be affected by plastic pollution?
Answer: Fish
Question: Which organization founded by Mimi Ausland focuses on plastic waste removal from the ocean?
Answer: freetheocean.com
Marine Ecosystems and Environment
Question: What percentage of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans?
Answer: 71 percent
Question: What is the deepest underwater location on Earth?
Answer: Challenger Deep
Question: What is the average salinity of Earth’s oceans?
Answer: 35 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater
Question: What is the primary source of salts in the ocean?
Answer: Weathering and erosion of rocks on land
Question: What is the term for the process where carbon is sequestered in the deep ocean?
Answer: Biological pump
Question: Which planet's moon is thought to have a saltwater ocean beneath its ice surface?
Answer: Europa (Jupiter's moon)
Question: What is the estimated volume of Earth's world ocean?
Answer: 1.332 billion cubic kilometers
Question: Which ocean phenomenon causes significant weather shifts like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation?
Answer: Oceanic temperature distribution shifts
Question: What percentage of Earth's water is saline?
Answer: 97.5 percent
Question: Which type of water contains 69% of Earth's fresh water?
Answer: Ice in ice caps and glaciers
Question: What marine organism is responsible for protecting shorelines by creating new land?
Answer: Coral
Question: What type of ecosystem is primarily formed by marine organisms like coral?
Answer: Reefs
Question: What process involves the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients by marine microorganisms?
Answer: Nutrient recycling
Question: Which marine environment is known for having the largest reservoir of dissolved atmospheric gases?
Answer: The oceans
Question: What is the main role of seawater in the world's climate?
Answer: Acting as a large heat reservoir
Question: What marine process involves the downward flow of organic material to the deep ocean?
Answer: Biological pump
Question: Which moon of Saturn is believed to have an underground ocean supporting life?
Answer: Enceladus
Question: What is the name of the cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on Earth?
Answer: Water cycle
Question: What is the common term for the interconnected ocean system on Earth?
Answer: World ocean
Question: What is the main influence of ocean currents on global weather patterns?
Answer: Regulating temperature distribution
Question: What percentage of the ocean’s volume is made up of living space on Earth?
Answer: 90 percent
Question: What is a major environmental issue impacting marine life and ecosystems?
Answer: Single-use plastics
Question: What type of products can help reduce the impact of plastic waste on the ocean?
Answer: Plastic-free products
Question: Which country is known for its efforts in plastic waste removal, especially along its coastlines?
Answer: United States
Question: What organization works with a global community to combat plastic pollution in the oceans?
Answer: Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii