Ocean Facts for Kids
Deep-sea facts and ocean wonders
Some bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, wear sponges on their noses while foraging on the seabed to protect themselves from sharp rocks and stinging creatures.
Seagrass meadows cover less than 0.2% of the ocean floor, yet they capture and store carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, making them vital in the fight against climate change.
Garden eels live in burrows on the sandy ocean floor. They poke their heads out and sway in the current to catch tiny bits of food, making them look like an underwater garden.
Sonar technology has revealed that the ocean floor is not flat at all — it has vast mountain ranges, deep valleys, and plains, much like the landscape on dry land.
Sperm whales communicate using patterns of clicks called 'codas'. Different family groups have distinct dialects, much like human regional accents.
The ocean covers more than 70% of Earth's surface, making our planet look blue from space. It contains about 97% of all the water on Earth.
The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, reaching nearly 11 kilometres below the surface. It is so deep that Mount Everest could be dropped inside and still be covered by more than a mile of water.
The ocean produces around half of all the oxygen we breathe, mostly from tiny plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. Without the ocean, life on land would struggle to survive.
The blue whale is the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth, growing up to 30 metres long — roughly the length of three double-decker buses. Its heart alone can weigh as much as a small car.
Seawater contains tiny amounts of dissolved gold — around 20 million tonnes in total across all the world's oceans. Unfortunately it is so spread out that collecting it is not practical.