Most of know that oceans make up most of the world (70 percent to be exact), but they are still full of mystery since we can’t possibly see everything that’s happening down there. But there are many interesting things that we do know about the ocean, that are truly incredible.
1. 94 percent of life on Earth is aquatic, which means that land living humans are very much in the minority. (And we think we rule the world don’t we!)
2. We have explored less than five percent of the oceans in the world. We actually know more about Mars than we do about the ocean floor.
3. First think of all the artifacts and interesting things we have from history within the museums of the world…and then realize that there are more artifacts on the ocean floor than in all of the world’s museums combined.
4. The longest mountain range in the world is actually underwater. The range is called the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, and it runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and also into the Indian and Pacific oceans. The range is 35,000 miles long, and makes up 23 percent of the world’s surface. truly mind boggling. The range wasn’t even explored until 1973…which is four years after we had men walk on the moon!
5. We assume we’ve seen it all when it comes to geographical features but the ocean floor has a whole bunch that we’ve never seen on land. There are underwater volcanoes that spew mud instead of lava, underwater hot springs that are hot enough to melt lava, chimneys that shoot sulphuric acid, and pillars that are multiple stories tall. There are even waterfalls underwater and in some cases upside down lakes.
6. A lot of the life in the ocean can not be seen with the naked human eye since it is so small. In one milliliter of seawater there are about 1 million bacteria and 10 million viruses. (And yet even if we drink a bit swimming in the ocean by accident we very rarely have any ill effects from it.)
7. There are creatures living at depths that would kill a human and crush a boat from pressure. One such is the jelly which can be 1140 to 160 feet long and lives on hydrothermal vents. They have the capacity to convert hydrothermal water into simple sugars for food which is truly incredible. There are also very extreme temperatures around the vents that don’t seem to bother them at all. At one end of the vent it might be 37 degrees where the other end might be 392 degrees…not something that most land plants or animals would be comfortable with!
8. The creatures in the ocean have many interesting habits that correlate with the ocean. The octopus for example will never travel faster than the speed of the water currents around him. He can also camouflage and change color to blend in with his surroundings no matter what they are.