Ocean Facts for Kids
Deep-sea facts and ocean wonders
The ocean floor has enormous mountain ranges, vast plains, and deep trenches. The Mid-Ocean Ridge is the longest mountain range on Earth, stretching about 65,000 kilometres around the globe entirely underwater.
Orca whales, also called killer whales, live in close-knit family groups called pods and use their own unique calls and whistles to communicate. Each pod has its own dialect that other orcas can recognise.
Sea otters hold hands with each other while they sleep on the water's surface so that they do not drift apart. A group of floating sea otters is called a raft.
Great white sharks can detect the tiny electrical fields produced by the heartbeats of other animals using special organs called the ampullae of Lorenzini. This sixth sense helps them locate prey hidden under sand.
The ocean absorbs about a quarter of all the carbon dioxide humans release into the atmosphere, helping to slow down climate change. However, this is causing the ocean to become more acidic, harming sea life.
Plankton are microscopic organisms that drift in the ocean and form the foundation of nearly all marine food chains. Without plankton, most ocean life — including the largest whales — could not survive.
The vampire squid lives in the oxygen minimum zone of the deep ocean, where most creatures cannot survive. Despite its name, it feeds only on dead organic material drifting down from above — not blood.
Manta rays are the largest rays in the world, with wingspans that can reach up to 7 metres. They are gentle filter feeders that eat tiny plankton, and they are known to leap completely out of the water.
Ocean currents act like a giant heating and cooling system for the planet, moving warm water from the tropics towards the poles and cold water back towards the equator. Without them, many parts of Earth would be far colder.
The narwhal's famous spiral tusk is actually an overgrown tooth that can grow up to 3 metres long. Scientists believe the tusk may be used to sense changes in temperature, salinity, and pressure in the water.