Majority of marine organisms are found in coastal
regions because ocean currents bring nutrient-rich water into coastal regions.
Marine coasts are environments that dynamically change through the process of
weathering and change in sea levels. Coast lines mostly consist of continental
shelves that contain relatively shallow waters of only 200 meter depths. These
continental shelves extend approximately 68 kilometers from the shoreline.
Since
water is generally shallow, photosynthetic processes are possible for marine
life which attracts more organisms to their primary food sources. Since the
land is near shallow waters, discharges of nutrients from the soil are brought
into the sea for the consumption of organisms. Aside from these reasons,
periodic upwellings in the sea also provide cool and nutrient rich waters for
different species.
