(Intro)

Jessi: Hi everyone! Squeaks and I thought it would be fun to learn about the ocean today, but to help us learn about life in the world's oceans, we've invited a few experts who know lots about the subject.

Wyatt and Ned: Science, science, science, science, science, science, science.

Dr. Irene: Wyatt and Ned, can you please use your undersea voices for a minute? We're going to talk to Jessi.

Jessi: Hi everyone! 

Dr. Irene: Oh, hi Jessi, and hello audience. I'm Dr. Irene Stanella, but you can call me Dr. Irene. And these are my two lab assistants, Ned and Wyatt.

Ned and Wyatt: Hi!

Jessi: Thank you so much for joining us today to teach us about the oceans and what animals live there.

Dr. Irene: Jessi, Squeaks, it is our pleasure. First things first, let's look at the ocean. The ocean covers more than half the surface of our world, and it's deep. So deep that, in many places, the sea floor never gets any sunlight, and, in fact, we scientists talk about the ocean having three different zones. And we know which zone is which based on how far sunlight can travel from the ocean surface.

Ned: Yeah.

Jessi: Oh, wow! So, the different zones are named according to how far light travels from the surface of the ocean?

Dr. Irene: That is correct, and the first zone is called the sunlight zone. 

Ned: The sunlight zone goes two hundred meters below the surface of the ocean. That's about as far as two football fields laid end to end.

Dr. Irene: Correct, Ned, and sunlight can rarely go further than the sunlight zone. 

Jessi: Wow! So, what animals live in the sunlight zone?

Wyatt: All kinds of animals!

Dr. Irene: The sunlight zone is warmer than the layers below it, and plants can grow there because the sunlight can reach them, which they use to make food. Because of these things there's a ton of life in this zone. You can find dolphins, like us, tuna, sea turtles, jellyfish, rays, seals, as well as seaweed, corals, sea anemones.

Wyatt: The list goes on!

Ned: Did somebody say tuna? Because, I'm hungry.

Dr. Irene: Ned, please.

Jessi: It sounds like the sunlight zone is the place to be.

Dr. Irene: It is quite delightful. Below the sunlight zone, there's the twilight zone.

Wyatt: This is where it gets dark really fast.

Ned: Sunlight sometimes reaches this layer of the ocean, but there's so little light that plants can't grow.

Wyatt: And, this zone goes from two hundred to one thousand meters below the ocean surface.

Ned: A thousand meters is taller than the tallest building in the whole world.

Dr. Irene: Now, Ned, can you give our audience a few examples of what animals live in this zone?

Ned: Yeah, there are no plants, but animals like shrimp, hatchetfish, and swordfish live here.

Jessi: Oh, that's so interesting.

Dr. Irene: It truly is. Wyatt, can you name the last ocean zone for us, please.

Wyatt: That would be my pleasure. The last zone is called the midnight zone. This layer is so deep that  sunlight never reaches it, so it's completely dark!

Dr. Irene: You'll find some very unique animals in this zone that have developed special bodies to live in the dark and to survive the great pressure of the deep sea. There's the anglerfish, which creates a light to lure it's prey to its big mouth. Also, there's the blobfish, which looks blobby to us, but in the deep sea the pressure squeezes it to make it look more like a fish that we would recognize. And there's also massive sea creatures, like our friend, the giant squidstravaganza.

Jessi: That's amazing! I love learning about animals, and how animals survive in different environments.

Dr. Irene: Indeed! There are many animals in the sea, and they've all adapted to the amount of light that's available to them.

Jessi: Oh, thank you so much, Dr. Irene, Ned, and Wyatt. I had a great time learning about the ocean's zones and the creatures that live in them.

Dr. Irene, Ned, and Wyatt: Thanks Jessi!

Jessi: Did you guys have a good time learning with our ocean experts? Do you have any questions for Dr. Irene and her assistants? Let us know! Grab a grownup and leave a comment down below, or send us an email to kids@thescishow.com, and we'll see you next time here at the fort.