Portal:Oceans
The Oceans Portal
A portal dedicated to oceans, seas, oceanography and related topics
Selected panorama
– Hover over image and scroll to middle for controls to see more selected panorama images –
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Caesio teres in the South Pacific Ocean in Fiji -
A mother sperm whale and her calf in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mauritius -
Clouds over the Southern Ocean, with continent labels -
A view of the Southern Ocean from Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell, Princetown, Victoria, Australia -
Satellite view of the Pacific Ocean and the main windward Hawaiian Islands -
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. -
A panorama of Zanzibar, Tanzania, particularly the Stone Town, taken from the Indian Ocean -
Orca (Orcinus orca) hunting a Weddell seal in the Southern Ocean -
A sea anemone in the Pacific Ocean, Baja California, Mexico -
A view of Myrtos Beach and the Ionian Sea, Cephalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece -
Icebergs broken off from glaciers in northern Baffin Bay, Cape York, Greenland -
A view of the South China Sea, Bacuit Archipelago, municipality of El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
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 -
A swell, also sometimes referred to as ground swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air under the predominating influence of gravity, and thus are often referred to as surface gravity waves. These surface gravity waves have their origin as wind waves, but are the consequence of dispersion of wind waves from distant weather systems, where wind blows for a duration of time over a fetch of water, and these waves move out from the source area at speeds that are a function of wave period and length. More generally, a swell consists of wind-generated waves that are not greatly affected by the local wind at that time. Swell waves often have a relatively long wavelength, as short wavelength waves carry less energy and dissipate faster, but this varies due to the size, strength, and duration of the weather system responsible for the swell and the size of the water body, and varies from event to event, and from the same event, over time. Occasionally, swells that are longer than 700 m occur as a result of the most severe storms.
Swell direction is the direction from which the swell is moving. It is given as a geographical direction, either in degrees, or in points of the compass, such as NNW or SW swell, and like winds, the direction given is generally the direction the swell is coming from. Swells have a narrower range of frequencies and directions than locally generated wind waves, because they have dispersed from their generation area and over time tend to sort by speed of propagation with the faster waves passing a distant point first. Swells take on a more defined shape and direction and are less random than locally generated wind waves. (Full article...)
Interesting facts -
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began reanalyzing Atlantic hurricane data in 2006 to correct errors in the hurricane database dating back to the Apollo Program
- Hurricane Alberto of 2000 completed the largest loop ever observed over the Atlantic Ocean.
- Underwater explosions produce ocean surface waves that are similar to tsunamis.
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.
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USS Vincennes at Disappointment Bay, Antarctica in early 1840 (from Southern Ocean) -
Embarked and disembarked slaves in the Atlantic slave trade 1525–1863 (first and last slave voyages) (from Atlantic Ocean) -
A general delineation of the Antarctic Convergence, sometimes used by scientists as the demarcation of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean) -
An adult and sub-adult Minke whale are dragged aboard the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru. (from Southern Ocean) -
Manganese nodule (from Southern Ocean) -
Malé's population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020. (from Indian 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) -
Air pollution in South Asia spread over the Bay of Bengal and beyond. (from Indian Ocean) -
Mombasa Port on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast (from Indian Ocean) -
Major ocean trade routes in the world include the northern Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean) -
Universalis Cosmographia, also known as the Waldseemüller map, dated 1507, was the first map to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. South America was generally considered the New World and shows the name "America" for the first time, after Amerigo Vespucci (from Pacific Ocean) -
The Antarctic Ocean, as delineated by the draft 4th edition of the International Hydrographic Organization's Limits of Oceans and Seas (2002) (from Southern Ocean) -
Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707 (from Pacific Ocean) -
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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) -
Madagascar's elephant bird, Mauritius's dodo bird and ostrich (from left to right) (from Indian Ocean) -
Banks of the northeast Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean) -
Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean (from Pacific Ocean) -
Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris. (from Pacific Ocean) -
Fish of the Notothenioidei suborder, such as this young icefish, are mostly restricted to the Antarctic and Subantarctic. (from Southern Ocean) -
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Seas that are parts of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean) -
Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979 (from Pacific Ocean) -
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Walruses on Arctic ice floe (from Arctic Ocean) -
On the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean temporary logistic stations may be installed. Here, a Twin Otter is refueled on the pack ice at 86°N, 76°43‘W. on April 16, 1990 during a flight to the North Pole (from Arctic Ocean) -
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Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1754. (from Pacific Ocean) -
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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) -
The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin (from Pacific Ocean) -
Excavation of the Ertebølle middens in 1880 (from Atlantic Ocean) -
Marine debris strewn over the beaches of the South Atlantic Inaccessible Island (from Atlantic Ocean) -
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) map of the Pacific (from Pacific Ocean) -
Thule archaeological site (from Arctic Ocean) -
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are the most southerly of Antarctic mammals. (from Southern 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) -
Sea cover in the Arctic Ocean, showing the median, 2005 and 2007 coverage (from Arctic Ocean) -
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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) -
A female warty squid (Moroteuthis ingens) (from Southern Ocean) -
The British invasion of Isle de France on 29 November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars (from Indian Ocean) -
The International Hydrographic Organization's delineation of the "Southern Ocean" has moved steadily southward since the original 1928 edition of its Limits of Oceans and Seas. (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) -
1928 delineation (from Southern Ocean) -
Area inside the black line indicates the area constituting the Pacific Ocean prior to 2002; darker blue areas are its informal current borders following the recreation of the Southern Ocean and the reinclusion of marginal seas. (from Southern Ocean) -
Bahama Banks (from Atlantic Ocean) -
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Admiral von Bellingshausen (from Southern Ocean)
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
Ocean currents and gyres | |||||||||||
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| Currents |
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| Gyres |
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More topics
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Categories
Select [►] to view subcategories
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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