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The ocean temperature varies by depth, geographical location and season. Both the
temperature and salinity of ocean water differs. Warm surface water is generally saltier than
the cooler deep or polar waters;[1] in polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold
and fresh.[2] Deep ocean water is cold, salty water found deep below the surface of Earth's
oceans. This water has a very uniform temperature, around 0-3 °C. [3] The ocean temperature
also depends on the amount of solar radiation falling on its surface.

Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean's surface. Sea
surface temperatures influence weather, including hurricanes, as well as plant and animal life
in the ocean. Like Earth's land surface, sea surface temperatures are warmer near the equator
and colder near the poles. Currents like giant rivers move warm and cold water around the
world's oceans. Some of these currents flow on the surface, and they are obvious in sea
surface temperature images.

ectotherm, any so-called cold-blooded animal—that is, any animal whose regulation of body
temperature depends on external sources, such as sunlight or a heated rock surface. The
ectotherms include the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. The body temperature
of an aquatic ectotherm is usually very close to the temperature of the surrounding water.
Ectotherms do not require as much food as warm-blooded animals (endotherms) of the same
size do but may be more dramatically affected by temperature fluctuations.

Visible wavelengths of light are captured by chlorophyll-bearing marine plants, which then
make their own food through the process of photosynthesis . The organic molecules created
by this process are an important energy source for many small organisms that are the base of
the entire marine food chain . All life in the oceans is ultimately dependent upon the light
and the process of photosynthesis that it initiates. Similarly, light transmission is a key factor
in the ecology of lakes and streams, which are discussed elsewhere in this encyclopedia. The
uppermost, sunlit layer of the ocean where 70 percent of the entire amount of photosynthesis
in the world takes place is called the euphotic zone. It generally extends to a depth of 100
meters (330 feet). Below this is the disphotic zone, between 100 and 1,000 meters (330 and
3,300 feet) deep, which is dimly lit. Some animals are able to survive here, but no plants.
Although the amount of light is measurable at this range of depths, there is not enough
available for photosynthesis to take place. The layer of the ocean where no light at all
penetrates—over 90 percent of the entire ocean area on Earth—is called the aphotic zone,
where depths are more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of

chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates,
as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and
terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies. In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced
by symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus Vibrio; in others, it is autogenic, produced
by the animals themselves.