Overview to The Seas Around the World
Have you ever wondered how deep the oceans are? Have we explored every bit of oceans on the earth?
Do we know about every plant and animal species that live inside the ocean? The answer to the question is that no, we do not know all of it yet. Oceans are so much vaster than what we can even imagine.
Oceans are the most mysterious yet fascinating world inside our world that is not yet explored fully. Oceans are huge bodies of saltwater. There are mysteries to be reached and solved. In this article, we will look at and learn about different types of seas, fun sea facts for kids and much more. So let's start learning.
Ocean
How Many Seas in the World?
About 70 per cent of our earth's surface is covered with water. If someone is lost there are just miles and miles of water till the end of their sight. But how many seas are in the world? According to the world map and naming, there are only seven seas on Earth. But the truth is The terminology "seven seas" has long been used to refer to the huge bodies of water throughout the globe. Actually, a fun sea fact for kids here is that there are technically around 50 types of water forms that fall under different types of "seas," and they are all extremely different in terms of their size, location, and ecosystems.
Information About Sea
As we already discussed, seas are vast and are full of interesting things to explore. Here in this section, we will look at some information about seas:
To initiate with, it is necessary to know that
There is about 98 percent of the water on earth.
The Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern, or the Antarctic, oceans are the five major zones that compose the entire oceans on earth. Since they share no physical borders and water can move freely to and for from them, they can be considered as one ocean.
Sections or smaller portions of these oceans are called seas, gulfs, and bays.
Ocean or sea water is usually salty in taste due to the presence of sodium chloride in it. (dissolved form)
Life Inside Seas
Life inhabits all levels of the Earth's oceans. Sea plants grow fairly close to the surface of the water because they need sunlight to nurture life. Sunlight only penetrates to a depth of 200 metres. The most numerous marine plants are named phytoplankton. These tiny single-celled plants drift on ocean winds. Various types of seaweed and other plants also grow in the world's oceans. Like sea plants, most sea creatures live in shallow water. This is because many plants and animals eat near the surface of the water. But animals are also found in deep waters, such as the deepest and darkest trenches in the ocean.
The ocean is home to innumerable additional species of creatures. These include dolphins, clams, crabs, squid, and other varieties of fish. Although corals and sea anemones resemble plants, they are actually animals.
Different Life Forms of Seas
Importance of Seas
Oceans play a vital role in helping life on Earth. People all throughout the world can get a lot of their nutrition from the ocean. They also provide raw gas, oil, and minerals. Phytoplankton (small plants) and algae are the primary producers of oxygen around the globe. Oceans also contribute to the stability of climates by storing solar heat.
Ocean health is currently threatened by a number of threats. People contaminate the oceans by throwing garbage and toxic waste into them. Ocean pollution damages marine life and lowers the oxygen content of the water. Oil spills and overfishing both impact marine life.
Summary
To conclude all the learnings of these vast waters of our earth we can summarise as follows-oceans are home to various types of animals and plants. They are important for humans also. Ocean or sea water is usually salty in taste as it has salt dissolved in it. Seas cover a large majority of the earth's land. We also looked at various kinds of oceans and seas and the number in which they are present. It was astonishing to see that the ocean and seas and other water are similar yet quite different from each other. With this, we would like to end today's learning. We hope we are clear enough to make everything easy and understandable.
FAQs on The Secret of The Seas
1. What is the main difference between an ocean and a sea?
The primary difference is their size and location. Oceans are vast, continuous bodies of saltwater that cover most of our planet. Seas are smaller bodies of saltwater that are usually located where the ocean and land meet, and are often partially enclosed by land.
2. Which is the deepest ocean on Earth, and what is its deepest point called?
The Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean in the world. Its deepest point is known as the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest known location on Earth's surface.
3. Why is the Arctic Ocean almost always frozen?
The Arctic Ocean, located around the North Pole, is almost always frozen because it receives very little direct sunlight. The extremely low temperatures in the polar region cause the surface of the water to turn into thick sea ice and glaciers.
4. Why is the water in seas and oceans salty?
Ocean water is salty because of minerals that come from rocks on land. Rivers and streams flow over these rocks, pick up small amounts of mineral salts, and carry them to the sea. When water evaporates from the ocean's surface to form clouds, the salts are left behind, gradually making the water salty over millions of years.
5. What makes the deep sea so dark and mysterious?
The deep sea is completely dark because sunlight cannot penetrate more than a few hundred metres into the water. This lack of light, combined with immense water pressure and very cold temperatures, creates a challenging environment. The creatures that live here have special adaptations to survive, which is what makes the deep sea so mysterious to scientists.
6. How do animals like fish breathe in the sea?
Fish and many other sea animals do not breathe air like we do. Instead, they use special organs called gills. Water flows over the gills, which are able to extract dissolved oxygen directly from the water, allowing the animal to breathe underwater.
7. What are some of the most important things we get from the sea?
The sea is vital for life on Earth and provides us with many important things, including:
Food: It is a major source of food like fish, prawns, and crabs.
Oxygen: Tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton produce more than half of the oxygen we breathe.
Salt: The salt we use in our food is harvested from seawater.
Transport: Oceans and seas provide routes for ships to transport goods around the world.
