Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean , or the Pacific Basin , was the largest ocean on Earth , comprising a third of its surface area . Due to its great size , political maps divided the ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean ( aka South Seas ) , with the equator being the border between the two regions . Four continent s - North America , South America , Australia , and Asia - had coastlines on this ocean The North American coastline was known as the Pacific Coast . The Pacific Ocean was the location of several islands and island chains , among them Gravett Island and Hawaii . Before their extinction in the 21st century , humpback whale s lived in this ocean , before being reintroduced there during the late 23rd century . ( ; ; ; ) During the 19th century , a sailing ship commanded by British Navy Captain Cray was hit by a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean , and everyone back in England thought the ship would never return . Eight month s later , Cray and his crew sailed into London harbor , with the remains of his tattered ship , consisting of only a few planks and half a sail , according to some accounts . ( ) In 1937 pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt to circumnavigate the Earth . Unknown at the time , Earhart , Noonan and six other humans , were abducted by an alien race known as the Briori and transported to the Delta Quadrant . ( ) " In an alternate 1944 created by multiple temporal incursion s by various factions in the Temporal Cold War , Alicia Travers ' husband was serving aboard a destroyer in the Pacific . The ocean itself was labeled on the map of the United States of America that showed the progress of the Nazi ' s campaign on the North America n continent . It was described there as Pazifisches Meer ( Pacific Sea ) . " ( ) The Hermosa Quake of 2047 struck Southern California , the entire region , including the city of Los Angeles , sank into the Pacific Ocean to a depth of 200 meter s , becoming one of Earth ' s largest coral reefs and home to thousands of different marine species . ( ) In 2155 , Commander Charles Tucker was able to successfully change the target of the verteron array on Mars , which had been hijacked by John Frederick Paxton , from Starfleet Command to a harmless impact in the Pacific Ocean . ( ) A 21st century - era political map of Earth was stored in the ' s library computer in 2254 . The location of the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean were labeled on this map . This map was among the materials viewed by the Talosian s when they scanned the " Enterprise " computer . ( ) In the " Julian Bashir , Secret Agent " holoprogram , an island in the South Pacific received several messages from Istanbul that were intercepted by the American s . ( ) Background information . Retroactive continuity : 20th century - era maps of the northern hemisphere Pacific region were stored in the library computer in 2254 . One map depicted the east coast of Asia ' s USSR nation and Alaska on the west coast of North America . Another map depicted the globe from the point of view of the Arctic Circle , showing the same region . These maps were among the materials viewed by the Talosian s when they scanned the " Enterprise " computer . ( )