June 8 is World Ocean Day. 🌊
In case you’re wondering what exactly constitutes an ocean, it is a huge body of salt water that covers about 71% of the Earth's surface.
Our world has only one ocean, but it is divided into five main parts: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Antarctic.
The ocean helps us all in so many ways:
- It gives us some delicious and nutritious food 🤤
- It gives us water 🥛
- It provides most of the oxygen we breath 😮💨
- It helps keep our planet warm 🌡️
Keep reading to discover some interesting facts about our lovely ocean, and how we can protect it!
Smallest animal
Did you know that the world’s smallest animal, or smallest animal genome, lives in the ocean?
Its name is Trichoplax adhaerens.
This extremely simple marine animal species is actually so tiny that you wouldn’t be able to see it without a microscope. 🔬
Even though it is so small, shapeless and brainless, this animal can do extraordinary things, like hunt for food and defend itself with venom!
Largest animal
It’s amazing to think that the smallest and largest animals in the world, both live in the ocean.
The largest animal world record title belongs to the blue whale, or Balaenoptera musculus.
The average blue whale is 20–30 metres (65–100 ft) long and weighs around 160 tonnes (176 tons).
To put this into perspective, the average elephant “only” weighs… 7 tonnes! 😮
Stickiest fish
The Northern Clingfish (Gobiesox maeandricus) is a small fish that lives in the ocean.
It would be fairly typical among the over 170 species of clingfish worldwide…
What makes it unique, however, is that it is the world’s stickiest fish, being able to attach to any object with a strength measured between 80 to 230 times its own weight. 💪
In other words, when a Northern Clingfish attaches itself to you… it never lets you go!
More ocean facts
Want to know more about our ocean?
Here are some additional facts:
- There are about one million species of animals living in the ocean 🐠
- About 5 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the ocean 😥
- Today, we have only explored 5% of the ocean 🧭
- The Pacific is home to more than 10,000 volcanoes 🌋
Let’s save the ocean
If you want to help make a difference, here’s how you can protect the ocean:
- Try using less plastic and recycling it when possible. For example, do you really need a plastic straw for your milk or juice? Help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the sea. ♻️
- Help keep the beaches clean, by making sure to pick up any litter you see! 🚮
Lastly, get inspired by record breaker Merle, the eco mermaid.
In an effort to draw attention to the plastic sea pollution problem, Merle swam for 9 hours and 19 minutes straight, without using her arms! 🧜♀️
Happy World Ocean Day. 💙
