How it works
This ocean food web with labels joins twelve living things of the open sea, from phytoplankton to the orca. Each arrow points from the one that is eaten to the one that eats it.
Read the full guide
Start under the sun
Phytoplankton are the producers: they make their own food from sunlight, so every chain in the web starts with them. Zooplankton and krill eat the phytoplankton.
Follow the arrows
Herring eat zooplankton and krill. A seabird, a seal, a squid and a tuna eat herring, and the tuna eats squid too. The shark hunts seals and tuna, and the orca hunts seals. The baleen whale, the largest animal here, feeds on krill. The dashed arrows show what dies sinking to the bacteria, the decomposers, which break it down into nutrients that producers use again.
- The arrow points at the eater: from the krill to the whale, not the other way.
- Phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteria are too small to see, so each is drawn under a lens.
Questions and answers
What is an ocean food web?
A food web shows who eats whom in one place, and so how energy flows through it. An ocean food web starts with producers such as phytoplankton and ends with apex predators such as great white sharks and orcas.
Which way do the arrows point in a food web?
From the living thing that is eaten to the one that eats it. The arrows show energy flowing from prey to predator: the arrow from krill to the whale means the whale eats krill.
What are the producers in an ocean food web?
Phytoplankton are the producers in this web. Like plants on land, they make their own food by photosynthesis and do not need to eat. They are the base of the food web.
What do decomposers do in the ocean?
Bacteria break down the remains of dead plants and animals. That recycles them into nutrients for the producers, so nothing in the web is wasted.
Can I print this ocean food web and label it on paper?
Yes. Print the drawing blank and write the twelve names in, or print it with the names as a key.