single-celled organisms that live in the tissue of corals and provide energy to the corals (M2)
Zooplankton
plankton composed of tiny animals (M2)
Zonation
the distribution of plants and animals according to environmental conditions, generally in a pattern of vertical banding (M3)
Windward ability
the capacity of a sailing vessel to sail into the wind (M1)
Wayfinder
in traditional Polynesian voyaging, the person who navigates the canoe using no instruments (M1)
Visual strip-transect search
a research method for studying fish in which two divers swim side-by-side down either side of a transect, counting all fishes seen within a specified corridor (M4)
Trophic levels
pathways and levels through which nutrients and energy flow between organisms (M2)
Transect
a sample area, usually in the form of a long, continuous strip; in coral reef monitoring, often a marked line across the reef (M4, M5)
Tertiary consumers
predators that feed on secondary consumers and comprise the fourth trophic level of marine food webs (M2)
Target screen
a destination area set in charting a navigational course in which the highest points of the destination islands will be visible (M1)