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1. Home
2. Ocean facts

**Ocean Facts** Get the facts about our **ocean and coasts.** 
 Top 10: Recent Ocean Facts What are nature-based solutions?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is longitude?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is latitude?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a barrier island?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How long do Greenland sharks live?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How much oxygen comes from the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are plankton?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can we clean up, stop, or end harmful algal blooms?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are coquina and tabby?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the carbon cycle?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a sponge?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a tide pool?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an archipelago?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the intertidal zone?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the most common form of ocean litter?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What causes seasickness?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a heat dome?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do we still need lighthouses?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a canal?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What do windward and leeward mean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How many high tides are there per day?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a SOFAR?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a lagoon?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do hurricanes affect sea life?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a glass sponge?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Bloop?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do hurricanes form?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a hydrophone?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ecoforecasting?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a gyre?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How Many Species Live in the Ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are tides higher when the moon is directly overhead?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a meteotsunami?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a watershed?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a current survey?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a backscatter?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a ghost forest?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is Earth’s Largest Waterfall?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is eutrophication?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is high tide flooding?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does sand form?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What does the ocean have to do with human health?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a Rossby wave?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why should we care about the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the Totten Beacons?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a tide gauge?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are brain corals?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a catcher beach?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a King Tide?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where do I get real-time and forecast coastal conditions?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the fastest fish in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does sea ice affect global climate?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What causes a sea turtle to be born male or female?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the oldest living animals in the world?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the Roaring Forties?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are all fish cold-blooded?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Pineapple Express?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where do fish go when it freezes outside?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ocean noise?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the trade winds?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How are satellites used to observe the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a sea lamprey?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an oil seep?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is coral spawning?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do scientists measure sea surface temperature?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between local sea level and global sea level?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is marine telemetry?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the doldrums?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are beach advisories and beach closures?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are microplastics?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does land-based pollution threaten coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can a coral reef recover from bleaching and other stressful events?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does overfishing affect coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does climate change affect coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do sea turtles hatch?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ocean etiquette?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a living shoreline?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an oil spill trajectory?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a pocosin?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are barnacles?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is GPS?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Great Loop?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What color is an iceberg?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is marine biogeography?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Forchhammer's Principle?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is seaspeak?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is GRAV-D?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a NOAA tide table?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the vampire squid and the vampire fish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does NOAA help clean up oil and chemical spills?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a maritime forest?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a High Seas Forecast?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a bight?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a thermocline?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a Portuguese Man o’ War?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is subsidence?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a wetland?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is HAZMAT?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an ocean glider?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is glacial isostatic adjustment?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does NOAA monitor water levels around the nation?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do natural disasters contribute to marine debris?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a marsh organ?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a nautilus?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a platypus?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is spat?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a turbidity current?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is geocaching?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a geographic information system?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Census of Marine Life?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is aquaculture?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why does the ocean have waves?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an Operational Forecast System?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How far does sound travel in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do fish sleep?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is blue carbon?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is PORTS®?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is nuisance flooding?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is tectonic shift?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a whale fall?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the horse latitudes?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are horseshoe crabs really crabs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     When Was the First Earth Day?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a pelagic fish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is bombogenesis?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What do geodesists do?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the International Date Line?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the longest-lived marine mammal?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an anchialine pool?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an artificial reef?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are there oceans on other planets?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is dredging?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a slough?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Is the Earth round?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a hurricane?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Was Moby Dick a real whale?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do we name tropical storms?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a seiche?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do mariners use port and starboard instead of left and right?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a fish ladder?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a bivalve mollusk?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ocean acidification?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are PBDEs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a Plimsoll line?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is lidar?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the most venomous marine animal?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do we have spring tides in the fall?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between storm surge and storm tide?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the mariner's 1-2-3 rule?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between a hurricane watch and a warning?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between an AUV and a ROV?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is shoreline armoring?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between a nautical mile and a knot?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is 'Old Sow'?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are mermaids real?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is Point Nemo?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What's the difference between a threatened and endangered species?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why are scientists concerned about Asian tiger shrimp?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a perigean spring tide?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is sea foam?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How big is the Atlantic Ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a datum?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Sargasso Sea?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do we forecast harmful algal blooms?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are Christmas tree worms?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Does coral jewelry make a good gift?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the cryosphere?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where do I get NOAA tides and currents data?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a turkeyfish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is Digital Coast?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do I get NOAA nautical charts?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the law of the sea?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What makes the green turtle...green?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a historical map or chart?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ghostfishing?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are sea cucumbers vegetables?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Storm QuickLook?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between weather and climate?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How did the Pacific Ocean get its name?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Is there gold in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are starfish really fish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are jellyfish made of?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why are aquatic plants so important?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is seaweed?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How can you tell the difference between an oil slick and an algal bloom?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How did the Hawaiian Islands form?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do the Great Lakes have tides?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How much of the ocean have we explored?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is lightering?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is air gap?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a marine national monument?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is VDatum?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a salt marsh?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is Natural Resource Damage Assessment?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What threats do seabirds face?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What's the difference between a seal and a sea lion?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does pressure change with ocean depth?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is NERRS?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are coral animals or plants?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What ocean basin has the most corals?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the EEZ?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the geoid?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do we monitor tides?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a navigation response team?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why is the ocean salty, but rivers flowing into it are not?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is marine forensic science?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an invasive species?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why does the ocean get colder at depth?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What makes the right whale "right"?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How long is the U.S. shoreline?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is the largest estuary in the United States?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an eddy?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the largest sea turtle?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why is data on currents important?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a waterspout?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the significance of the NOAA logo?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Loop Current?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a seamount?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can penguins fly?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does oil impact marine life?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How is bathymetric data used?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do sanctuaries protect marine life?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are brain corals?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are dolphins fish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is bathymetry?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is bioluminescence?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a tidal wave?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do alligators live in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Is sea level the same all across the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How is ocean observing data used?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the Bermuda Triangle?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the National Spatial Reference System?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is all of the Earth's water?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is federal consistency?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the smallest ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do whales make noise?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the three main types of coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is the largest protected area in the National Marine Sanctuary system?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What lives in a kelp forest?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is maritime heritage?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do we measure currents?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What was the first national marine sanctuary to be designated?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What threats do coastal communities face?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are all algal blooms harmful?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Did I find a lost underwater civilization?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do we study tides?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is geodesy?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are PCBs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the difference between land cover and land use?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is nutrient pollution?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is resilience?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an environmental sensitivity index map?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a dead zone?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a national marine sanctuary?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What can I do to protect coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is remote sensing?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is ecosystem science?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How frequent are tides?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are phytoplankton?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a guyot?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Who first charted the Gulf Stream?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do people use kelp?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the biggest fish in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do sharks eat people?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is "smart growth"?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the largest ocean basin on Earth?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can humans drink seawater?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where are marine protected areas located?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is IOOS?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are El Nino and La Nina?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a kelp forest?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the global ocean conveyor belt?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a coral reef made of?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How is sea level rise related to climate change?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a mangrove forest?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Is change important to estuaries?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What types of plants and animals live in an estuary?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What does an oceanographer do?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a rip current?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Are lionfish a threat to Atlantic Ocean fish?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is upwelling?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is marine snow?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What do the numbers mean on a nautical chart?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How long does it take to produce a nautical chart?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can the ocean freeze?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a tsunami?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is marine debris?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a current?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Can marine debris degrade on its own in the environment?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What does peanut butter have to do with the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     In what types of water do corals live?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How fast is the Gulf Stream?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the largest living structure on Earth?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What's the difference between an ocean and a sea?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are the seven seas?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What percentage of marine areas are protected?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where can I get tide predictions?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an iceberg?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a hydrothermal vent?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an extremophile?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is coastal zone management?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Do volcanoes occur in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a rogue wave?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What can the ocean teach us about life on other planets?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Where is the highest tide?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What are tides?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do we have oceans?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How many oceans are there?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How does sound travel in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why is the ocean blue?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How much water is in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a nautical chart?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why is the ocean salty?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a marine protected area?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What's the difference between a tide and a current?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Why do Harmful Algal Blooms occur?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a red tide?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What do coral reefs have to do with medicine?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the biggest source of ocean pollution?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How far does light travel in the ocean?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What percentage of the American population lives near the coast?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How much of the ocean have we explored?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What's the difference between a nautical chart and a map?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a sonar?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What species live in and around coral reefs?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is hydrography?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How important is the ocean to our economy?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What role does the Ocean Service play with our nation's aircraft and airports?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What role does the ocean play in the weather?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     Is sea level rising?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do coral reefs protect life and property?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is the longest mountain range on earth?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is a benthic habitat map?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     What is an estuary?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How do coral reefs benefit the economy?
                   
                                                             
					                              
                     How deep is the ocean?
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  **Last updated:** 07/11/19 **Author:** NOAA How to cite this article Contact Us




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