The Oceans Portal
A portal dedicated to oceans, seas, oceanography and related topics
Selected panorama
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A surfer in the Pacific Ocean at the 2010 Mavericks competition, village of Princeton-by-the-Sea, northern California
A view of Filfla and the Mediterranean Sea. Filfla is a small, mostly barren, uninhabited islet 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) south of Malta.
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Introduction
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| Earth's ocean |
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Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: Marginal seas |
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as oceans (in descending order by area: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic/Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean), and are themselves mostly divided into seas, gulfs and subsequent bodies of water. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earth's energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water cycle, forming the basis for climate and weather patterns worldwide. The ocean is essential to life on Earth, harbouring most of Earth's animals and protist life. It originated photosynthesis and therefore Earth's atmospheric oxygen, and still supplies half of it. (Full article...)
A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water. (Full article...)
Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean' and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. (Full article...)
Selected article -
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica. An alternative name for the ACC is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the dominant circulation feature of the Southern Ocean and has a mean transport estimated at 137 ± 7 sverdrups (Sv, million m3/s), or possibly even higher, making it the largest ocean current. The current is circumpolar due to the lack of any landmass connecting with Antarctica and this keeps warm ocean waters away from Antarctica, enabling that continent to maintain its huge ice sheet.
Associated with the Circumpolar Current is the Antarctic Convergence, where the cold Antarctic waters meet the warmer waters of the subantarctic, creating a zone of upwelling nutrients. These nurture high levels of phytoplankton with associated copepods and krill, and resultant food chains supporting fish, whales, seals, penguins, albatrosses, and a wealth of other species. (Full article...)
Interesting facts -
- The west coast seabream and the sand steenbras (pictured) start their adult lives as males and later change sex.
- Sea fans such as Leptogorgia sarmentosa and Eunicella singularis are sometimes overgrown by false coral.
- The Islamic prophet Muhammad, while in Mecca, was a merchant involved in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Selected list articles and Marine habitat topics
| Marine habitats |
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| Coastal habitats |
| Ocean surface |
| Open ocean |
| Sea floor |
- List of oceans
- List of ancient oceans
- List of seas
- List of circumnavigations
- List of cruise lines
- List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System
- List of marine biologists
- List of marine ecoregions
- List of maritime explorers
- List of naval battles
- List of ocean liners
- List of oceanographic institutions and programs
- List of oldest surviving ships
- List of rogue waves
- List of seafood dishes
- List of submarine topographical features
Tasks
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Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
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General images -
The following are images from various ocean-related articles on Wikipedia.
The Arctic region showing the Northeast Passage, the Northern Sea Route within it, and the Northwest Passage via Canadian Inland Waters. (from Arctic Ocean)
1928 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
False color map of ocean depth in the Atlantic basin (from Atlantic Ocean)
A Ring of Fire; the Pacific is ringed by many volcanoes and oceanic trenches. This map does not show the Cascadia subduction zone along part of the west coast of North America, whose trench is completely buried in sediments. (from Pacific Ocean)
Seas that are parts of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
Excavation of the Ertebølle middens in 1880 (from Atlantic Ocean)
Location of the Southern Ocean gyres (from Southern Ocean)
A copepod (from Arctic Ocean)
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) map of the Pacific (from Pacific Ocean)
Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean (from Pacific Ocean)
Sunset in Monterey County, California, U.S. (from Pacific Ocean)
Thule archaeological site (from Arctic Ocean)
Mombasa Port on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast (from Indian Ocean)
Famous official portrait of Captain James Cook who proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. "He holds his own chart of the Southern Ocean on the table and his right hand points to the east coast of Australia on it." (from Southern Ocean)
Admiral von Bellingshausen (from Southern Ocean)
The British invasion of Isle de France on 29 November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars (from Indian Ocean)
Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979 (from Pacific Ocean)
The Atlantic Gyres influenced the Portuguese discoveries and trading port routes, here shown in the India Run ("Carreira da Índia"), which would be developed in subsequent years. (from Atlantic Ocean)
Embarked and disembarked slaves in the Atlantic slave trade 1525–1863 (first and last slave voyages) (from Atlantic Ocean)
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are the most southerly of Antarctic mammals. (from Southern Ocean)
An iceberg being pushed out of a shipping lane by (L to R) USS Burton Island, USS Atka, and USS Glacier near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 1965 (from Southern Ocean)
Banks of the northeast Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
The economically important Silk Road was blocked from Europe by the Ottoman Empire in c. 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the Age of Discovery. (from Indian Ocean)
Manganese nodule (from Southern Ocean)
Walruses on Arctic ice floe (from Arctic Ocean)
As the Gulf Stream meanders across the North Atlantic from the North American east coast to Western Europe its temperature drops by 20 °C (36 °F).
Coral reefs of the Maldives (from Indian Ocean)
Capture of Atlantic northwest cod in million tons (from Atlantic Ocean)
According to the Coastal hypothesis, modern humans spread from Africa along the northern rim of the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean trade. (from Indian Ocean)
Model of a Fijian drua, an example of an Austronesian vessel with a double-canoe (catamaran) hull and a crab claw sail (from Pacific Ocean)
The Arctic region; of note, the region's southerly border on this map is depicted by a red isotherm, with all territory to the north having an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F) in July. (from Arctic Ocean)
Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris. (from Pacific Ocean)
1937 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707 (from Pacific Ocean)
The Austronesian maritime trade network was the first trade routes in the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)![Image 42"Terres Australes" [sic] label without any charted landmass (from Southern Ocean)](http://wiki.nitrosworld.org/proxy-img/http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F8%2F8e%2FGeography_world_map.jpeg%2F120px-Geography_world_map.jpeg)
"Terres Australes" [sic] label without any charted landmass (from Southern Ocean)
The Arctic Ocean, with borders as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), including Hudson Bay (some of which is south of 57°N latitude, off the map) and all other marginal seas. (from Arctic Ocean)
Malé's population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020. (from Indian Ocean)
Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size (from Pacific Ocean)
The Kennedy Channel. (from Arctic Ocean)
Banks of the northwest Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. Tops of thunderclouds are also visible. (from Pacific Ocean)
The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin (from Pacific Ocean)
In 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Suga declined to drink the bottle of Fukushima's treated radioactive water that he was holding, which would otherwise be discharged to the Pacific. (from Pacific Ocean)
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![Image 42"Terres Australes" [sic] label without any charted landmass (from Southern Ocean)](http://wiki.nitrosworld.org/wiki/File:Geography_world_map.jpeg)
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Related portals
In the news
- 21 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Red Sea crisis
- Two oil tankers departing Saudi Arabia, Xin Long Yang and Rodos, turn around in the Red Sea and head for the Suez Canal instead of the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, after a warning by Houthi-controlled Yemen. (Reuters)
- 21 July 2026 –
- The wreckage of Pan Am Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4 that crashed into the sea off Puerto Rico in 1952, killing 52 people, is located by a veteran aviation search team. (The Dallas Express via Yahoo News)
- 20 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
- Red Sea crisis
- 13 July 2026 – Red Sea crisis
- Danish shipping company Maersk announces that they will resume services through the Red Sea for its WAF6 service. (Reuters)
WikiProjects
Topics
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Categories
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Oceans
Seas
Oceanography
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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Commons
Free media repository -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Admiralty law
| Admiralty and maritime law |
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| History |
| Features |
| Contract of carriage / charterparty |
| Parties |
| Judiciaries |
| International organizations |
| International conventions |
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| International Codes |
Need assistance?
Do you have a question about oceans, seas or oceanography that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
External media
- World Ocean Database and World Ocean Atlas Series – from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Includes the World Ocean Atlas.
- European Atlas of the Seas – the European Atlas of the Seas, from the European Commission
- NOAA Research – NOAA research news, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
- Ocean Research – from The World Ocean Observatory
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System – "a global open-access data and information clearing-house on marine biodiversity for science, conservation and sustainable development"
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