Big Blue

It’s salty. It’s about 60 million square miles, covers about 70 percent of the planet’s surface, and has thousands of volcanoes.

What is it? 

It’s the ocean. Surprisingly, there’s only one ocean. Just one. It’s called by five different names depending upon its location: The Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern (Antarctic) ocean. 

Just like outer space, much of the ocean is inaccessible, strange, and sometimes mysterious. Since a vast majority of it is unexplored, it really deserves to share the nickname with outer space, “The final frontier”. 

Scientists and others have many questions about the ocean, including:

• What creatures exist in the deep ocean?
• How did life start in the ocean?
• Where did the ocean’s water come from?
• What’s on the ocean floor?  Less than roughly 10 percent has been mapped.
• Why do whales strand themselves on beaches? 

And here’s my favorite: Are octopuses really from another planet? Scientists claim that their genetic makeup is so vastly different than any other creature on Earth, that they might as well be considered aliens.

The ocean is an amazing place. So are its inhabitants. There may be more about the ocean that we don’t know than we do know. Let’s explore both.

First, some basics

The ocean contains about 97 percent of all the water on Earth. It also provides essential food and nutrition to more than eight billion people on this planet.

Consider the ocean as the planet’s heart since it influences and regulates Earth’s climate. Ocean currents can be compared to the human body’s circulatory system because they circulate important heat and moisture around the planet that can influence temperatures and other global weather, wildfires, and produce more frequent or severe storms like hurricanes.

The ocean’s water level (called tides) are controlled by the Earth’s  closest celestial neighbor. Which one is it? Maybe Venus. What about Mars? Actually, it’s the Earth’s moon. 

The moon’s gravity is so strong that it pulls the ocean toward it. That causes a bulge or high tide on the side of the Earth closest to the moon and another bulge on the side farthest from the moon. When the water level is at its lowest point, it’s referred to as low tide. When it’s at its highest point, it’s called high tide. During high tide, caves near the ocean often flood with water.

Ocean tides serve a purpose. Marine animals rely on them to help eliminate pollutants, churn up and then spread food and other nutrients needed for their survival.

Many mammals like sharks and whales need salt water to live. The ocean has so much salt that when evenly spread over the Earth’s land, the layer of salt would be more than 500 feet thick or roughly the height of a 40-story office building. Most of the ocean’s salt come from rocks on the land. The runoff from rainwater carries the salt to the ocean.

The amount of water in the ocean changes over time. When temperatures drop, ice caps and glaciers form.  Water turns to ice, which decreases the amounts of water in the ocean. The opposite is also true. When temperatures increase, the ice melts, causing water levels in the ocean to rise. 

The ocean’s water is rising due to global warming. Higher temperatures on the planet are causing glaciers and ice sheets to melt, expanding the amount of water in the ocean. The ocean’s water level has increased by approximately four inches over the past 30 years. Although that doesn’t sound like much, it can actually make hurricanes and other storms more dangerous, cause more flooding to inland areas, and push salt water further inland, which can threaten freshwater supplies and erode beaches and other land along the coastline.

What’s the difference between seas and the ocean?

This answer is simple: geography. Seas, which are part of the ocean, are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Take the Mediterranean Sea. It’s surrounded by 22 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Technically, it flows into one enormous world ocean.

Think of it this way: There’s only one country called the United States, which is divided into multiple regions, such as: North, East, South, West, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest. These regions are all part of the same country.

Likewise, the ocean is also divided into regions: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Artic and Southern Oceans. They, along with about 50 different seas, form the global ocean.

Who lives there?

If you could be a sea creature, which one would you pick? 

You can choose from roughly two million underwater species, according to scientists. But there may be more since the majority of the ocean remains unchartered or unmapped. 

Ocean water is divided into five layers or zones:

• Sunlight Zone: This zone starts at the ocean’s surface (called sea level) and extends 660 below the water. Lots of marine animals live here, including whales, dolphins, sharks, tuna, jellyfish, sea turtle, seals, sea lions and stingrays. Plants can grow here and the water is generally warm.

• Twilight or Midwater Zone: This is a cold, dark layer of the ocean that lies under the sunlight zone, stretching from 660 to 3,300 feet below the ocean’s surface. The creatures that live here include tiny animals called zooplankton, fish, squid, and gelatinous animals that have soft, jelly-like bodies.

• Midnight Zone: This next layer of the ocean lies beneath the twilight zone, extending from 3,300 feet below the ocean’s surface to 13,100 feet. This zone is pitch black. The water is almost motionless and chilly — 39 degrees Fahrenheit. (Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit).  There’s also strong pressure in this zone.. That would make you feel like something strong (all the water above you) is pressing down hard on you. The pressure would be so strong that it would crush you. Yet, many sea creatures and plants live here, such as  algae, anglerfish, mussels, vampire squid, and tripod fish. 

• Abyssal Zone: This layer lies beneath the midnight zone, ranging between 13,100 to 19,700 feet below sea level. There is no light here. Also, no plants grow in this zone. The temperature ranges around 36 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, many fish call this place home, which include anglerfish, cookiecutter sharks, snailfish, and viperfish. 

• Hadal Zone:  This is the deepest layer of the ocean. It starts at 19,700 feet below sea level and extends all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. The water temperature is just above freezing. But even here, you can find signs of life. Scientists say tiny organisms exist in this part of the ocean. They’re called marine drifters because they’re carried along by tides and currents. 

Many creatures that live in the ocean are beautiful, wild, and weird. Here are some you may want to learn more about:

• Dumbo Octopuses: Named after Disney’s character – Dumbo the elephant – because of its ear-like fins, these creatures can live more than 13,000 feet below the surface of the water. They can change color to camouflage themselves against the ocean floor and live between three and five years.

• Bloody-belly Comb Jelly: The stomach of this jelly fish is colored red or scarlet, which helps it blend into its dark surroundings. It lives in the ocean’s midwater or twilight zone, which ranges between 656 feet to 3280 feet below sea level. At those depths, red light appears black, which makes the animals invisible to predators. Its red stomach hides some of the prey it may have eaten. Sparkling displays of light run along it body.

• Vampire Squids: What stands out with this animal is its eyes. They’re so big that when compared to the size of its body, they have the largest eyes of any living animal. Although its eyes are clear, they appear bright blue because they’re reflecting the color of the water around them. Those that live off the coast of California are a rust color whole others in different parts of the world are black. They live in the oxygen-minimum zone, which is between 328 and 4,920 feet below sea level. 

• Seahorses: Many people have seen these fish – yes, they are fish– that live in the Sunlight zone. But I’ll bet you didn’t know that they are the only species in which the male gets pregnant and gives birth!

• Blue Whales: These are the largest animals on the planet. They can grow up to 100 feet long, weigh up to 200 tons, and their tongue can weigh as much as an elephant! They live in all regions of the ocean except for the Arctic and Antarctic. 

More cool stuff 

The ocean holds many surprises. The longest mountain range on Earth is the mid-ocean ridge that crisscrosses the globe, spanning more than 40,000 miles.  Approximately 90 percent of it is in the ocean!

Even the world’s tallest waterfall is underwater. It’s called the Denmark Strait cataract and is located between Greenland and Iceland. It’s about 11,500 feet high. By comparison, Horseshoe Falls, which is the tallest of the three waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls, is only 167 feet high. Even the largest waterfall on land doesn’t come close. Angel Falls in Venezuela is only 3,212 feet tall.

There are so many more amazing things to learn about the ocean. If you discover something that other kids would like to know, please share. Include your first name, age, and state you live in, and email it to info@adventuresofmo.com. We’ll post it on Mo’s social media and/or website.