World Oceans Day: Know your water bodies

Hello young learners,

It’s me, Kiki, back again with another interesting episode on the Knowledge Corner. This time, we are going to learn about oceans on the occasion of World Oceans Day!

What are Oceans? 

An ocean is a large body of really salty water. If you compare the smallest ocean with big countries, you will be surprised by how large an ocean can be! These oceans flow between continents and are useful to us as well as the Earth in many ways.

These oceans support aquatic life – plants, big and small animals. They are also a source of oil and minerals and are used as waterways for transportation. There are five oceans spread across the globe. They are the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Atlantic and the Southern oceans. Let’s learn a bit about them. 

Pacific Ocean

About the ocean: It is the biggest ocean and covers over 30% of the Earth’s entire surface, around the continents of Asia, Africa, and both North and South America.

Unique aspects: This ocean is unique in many ways. For instance, it has the largest number of volcanoes that form a ring around the ocean basin, called the ring of fire. The Pacific Ocean also has 25,000 islands!

Aquatic life: Species such as whales, sea turtles, sea otters, and sea lions call the Pacific Ocean home. 

State of the ocean: This ocean is the most polluted, and a lot of plastic trash is causing serious harm to marine animals, who are at the mercy of hunters.

Atlantic Ocean

About the ocean: This is the second-largest ocean in the world. The Atlantic Ocean covers 20% of the Earth’s surface, flowing between continents – North and South America, Europe and Africa.

Unique aspects: It is the first ocean to be crossed by a ship and an aeroplane a few centuries ago. It is said to have a lot of natural resources such as oil and natural gas. This ocean also has the richest fishing waters, with various species of fish.

Aquatic life: This ocean is home to a wide variety of aquatic plants and animals. Some animals among them include walruses, sea turtles, sharks and dolphins. If you decide to explore the ocean, be careful as there have been a lot of shark attacks!

State of the ocean: The Atlantic Ocean suffers from many million tonnes of plastic dumped into it that goes to other surrounding water bodies and hurts the fishes living in them. Isn’t that sad? Besides, the ocean suffers from overfishing, and a lot of species of fish are now becoming extinct.

Indian Ocean

About the ocean: It is the third-largest ocean in the world, roughly occupying 20% of the Earth’s surface. The Indian Ocean flows between Asia, Africa and Australia.

Unique aspects: The Indian Ocean has a lot of special aspects to its credit. It is the warmest ocean with the most and the least salty portions in the same ocean. It also has a lot of oil deposits. 

Aquatic life: It has the lowest oxygen content, and hence, fewer plants and animals live in the Indian Ocean. However, there are a lot of aquatic animals, such as fish, whales etc., thriving in the ocean. 

State of the ocean: This ocean is polluted to a great extent, resulting in a loss of animals because of the lower oxygen level. The climate change issues also make it too warm for animals to live. 

Arctic Ocean

About the ocean: It’s a small ocean and the shallowest compared to the other oceans. It occupies around 3% of the Earth’s surface, which includes the North Pole, and is really cold with ice glaciers around it. 

Unique aspects: This ocean is mostly covered by ice. It has the lowest salt content among all the oceans. 

Aquatic life: The ocean has polar bears that are only found here, along with walruses and seals.

State of the ocean: It is expanding because of the melting glaciers and global warming. Besides, there is a lot of human induced pollution because of methane and plastics. 

Antarctic Ocean

About the ocean: It’s the youngest of the five because the ocean was accepted into the list in 2021. It occupies 6% of the surface of the Earth.

Unique aspects: This is the only ocean that encircles a continent – Antarctica whereas the other oceans flow between continents. In addition, the Antarctic Ocean is also the coldest and windiest of all. 

Aquatic life: Penguins, seals and blue whales are found in the Antarctic Ocean. 

State of the ocean: It’s polluted by plastics and other contaminants.

Protecting the oceans

We have learnt that all the oceans are affected by pollution. Do you believe we need to clean and protect them? On World Oceans Day, let’s look at ways we can do our bit to save them. 

Now that you know all about the oceans and how you can save them, can you tell us the methods you have already tried and those that you are going to try after reading the post. Share your answers in the comments section.