Ocean Exploration Facts
The ocean exploration facts in this section provide short answers to common or intriguing ocean questions. The questions are organized in a series of categories; click on a category to learn more about these topics.
For many ocean exploration facts, content has been repurposed from essays posted elsewhere on the website; to access the original content, click on links available on individual ocean fact pages.
The coloration of animals in the ocean follows a surprisingly regular pattern by depth, most likely tied to how light pentrates ocean water and an animal's ability to blend in with its surroundings.
With structure for animals to settle and live on and currents supplying food and nutrients, the variety of life, or biodiversity, at seamounts is often rather high.
Corals are animals.
A narwhal is a medium-sized, toothed whale that is only found in Arctic waters.
Upwelling occurs when winds push surface water away from the shore and deeper water rises to fill the gap.
Symbiosis is the interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.
Living organisms may produce their own light via the processes of bioluminescence, fluorescence, or phosphorescence.
Hydrography is the science of measuring and describing the physical features of bodies of water.
Glass sponges have skeletons made of silica, which is the same material used to make glass, but glass sponges are not glass, per se.
An Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) is a probe used to measure temperature throughout the water column.
The average depth of the ocean is 3,682 meters, or 12,080 feet.
Sargassum is a genus of large brown seaweed (a type of algae) that floats in island-like masses and never attaches to the seafloor.