Marine biology and its fields

When we speak about marine biology, it’s easy to get confused between its different fields and misunderstand the role of a marine biologist. Here I wish to resume and define it.

The study of marine biology concerns different areas and we can classify them in 7 main subfields as following:


1) marine ecology (study of marine populations and their interaction with the environment)
2) marine zoology (study of the different groups of organisms living in marine ecosystem)
3) marine microbiology (study of all organisms invisible to the human eye)
4) fisheries and aquaculture (study of planning and management of fish as a resource for human)
5) marine biotechnology (study the biological compounds that are produced by marine organisms and its use)
6) environmental marine biology (study the impact of natural phenomena and human activities on marine ecosystems and organisms)
7) marine conservation (study of strategies to protect, restore and preserve the marine ecosystems and their habitants)

The marine biologists are scientists that study marine environment. They can work in the nature, as they take samples and data or in laboratory as they analyze the samples. The work of marine biologist is very important as 80% of the oceans are still unexplored. The oceans are fundamental for the existence of life on earth, producing more than half of the planet’s oxygen and feeding millions of humans every year.

More than that, marine biology helps developing medicine, engineering, robotic, and understanding of evolution and genetics.