U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.

dot gov icon Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

https icon Secure websites use HTTPS

A small lock or https:// means you’ve safely connected to a .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Archive

Browse through all of our Ocean Facts.

  1. What are nature-based solutions?
    31 Jul 2023
  2. What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?
    17 Nov 2022
  3. What is latitude?
    14 Oct 2021
  4. What is longitude?
    14 Oct 2021
  5. What is a barrier island?
    5 Mar 2021
  6. How long do Greenland sharks live?
    1 Mar 2021
  7. How much oxygen comes from the ocean?
    12 Jun 2020
  8. What are plankton?
    30 Mar 2020
  9. Can we clean up, stop, or end harmful algal blooms?
    30 Oct 2019
  10. What are coquina and tabby?
    11 Jul 2019
  11. What is the carbon cycle?
    4 Apr 2019
  12. What is a sponge?
    14 Mar 2019
  13. What is a tide pool?
    22 Feb 2019
  14. What is the most common form of ocean litter?
    29 Nov 2018
  15. What is an archipelago?
    29 Nov 2018
  16. What is the intertidal zone?
    8 Nov 2018
  17. What causes seasickness?
    19 Oct 2018
  18. What is a heat dome?
    16 Aug 2018
  19. Do we still need lighthouses?
    3 Aug 2018
  20. What is a canal?
    19 Jul 2018
  21. What do windward and leeward mean?
    13 Jul 2018
  22. How many high tides are there per day?
    11 Jul 2018
  23. What is a SOFAR?
    21 Jun 2018
  24. What is a lagoon?
    15 Jun 2018
  25. How do hurricanes affect sea life?
    17 May 2018
  26. What is a glass sponge?
    10 May 2018
  27. What is the Bloop?
    7 May 2018
  28. How do hurricanes form?
    25 Apr 2018
  29. What is a hydrophone?
    16 Apr 2018
  30. What is ecoforecasting?
    6 Apr 2018
  31. What is a gyre?
    9 Mar 2018
  32. How Many Species Live in the Ocean?
    1 Mar 2018
  33. Are tides higher when the moon is directly overhead?
    26 Feb 2018
  34. What is a meteotsunami?
    14 Feb 2018
  35. What is a watershed?
    8 Feb 2018
  36. What is a current survey?
    8 Nov 2017
  37. What is a backscatter?
    2 Nov 2017
  38. What is a ghost forest?
    26 Oct 2017
  39. Where is Earth’s Largest Waterfall?
    19 Oct 2017
  40. What is eutrophication?
    6 Oct 2017
  41. What is high tide flooding?
    4 Oct 2017
  42. How does sand form?
    16 Aug 2017
  43. What does the ocean have to do with human health?
    31 May 2017
  44. What is a Rossby wave?
    31 May 2017
  45. Why should we care about the ocean?
    24 May 2017
  46. What are the Totten Beacons?
    24 May 2017
  47. What is a tide gauge?
    24 May 2017
  48. What are brain corals?
    22 May 2017
  49. What is a catcher beach?
    11 May 2017
  50. What is a King Tide?
    11 May 2017
  51. Where do I get real-time and forecast coastal conditions?
    11 May 2017
  52. What is the fastest fish in the ocean?
    11 May 2017
  53. How does sea ice affect global climate?
    4 May 2017
  54. What causes a sea turtle to be born male or female?
    21 Apr 2017
  55. What are the oldest living animals in the world?
    24 Feb 2017
  56. What are the Roaring Forties?
    8 Feb 2017
  57. What is the Pineapple Express?
    26 Jan 2017
  58. Are all fish cold-blooded?
    26 Jan 2017
  59. Where do fish go when it freezes outside?
    21 Dec 2016
  60. What is ocean noise?
    21 Dec 2016
  61. What are the trade winds?
    17 Nov 2016
  62. How are satellites used to observe the ocean?
    7 Nov 2016
  63. What is a sea lamprey?
    27 Oct 2016
  64. What is an oil seep?
    27 Oct 2016
  65. What is coral spawning?
    15 Sep 2016
  66. Why do scientists measure sea surface temperature?
    15 Sep 2016
  67. What is marine telemetry?
    28 Jul 2016
  68. What are the doldrums?
    15 Jul 2016
  69. What are beach advisories and beach closures?
    1 Jul 2016
  70. What are microplastics?
    27 Jun 2016
  71. How does land-based pollution threaten coral reefs?
    24 Jun 2016
  72. Can a coral reef recover from bleaching and other stressful events?
    24 Jun 2016
  73. How does overfishing affect coral reefs?
    21 Jun 2016
  74. How does climate change affect coral reefs?
    20 Jun 2016
  75. How do sea turtles hatch?
    15 Jun 2016
  76. What is ocean etiquette?
    13 Jun 2016
  77. What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?
    25 May 2016
  78. What is the difference between local sea level and global sea level?
    11 May 2016
  79. What is a living shoreline?
    11 May 2016
  80. What is an oil spill trajectory?
    10 May 2016
  81. What is a pocosin?
    25 Apr 2016
  82. What are barnacles?
    14 Apr 2016
  83. What is GPS?
    23 Mar 2016
  84. What is the Great Loop?
    21 Mar 2016
  85. What color is an iceberg?
    3 Mar 2016
  86. What is marine biogeography?
    25 Feb 2016
  87. What is the Forchhammer's Principle?
    9 Feb 2016
  88. What is seaspeak?
    20 Jan 2016
  89. What is GRAV-D?
    12 Jan 2016
  90. What is a NOAA tide table?
    4 Nov 2015
  91. What are the vampire squid and the vampire fish?
    30 Oct 2015
  92. How does NOAA help clean up oil and chemical spills?
    22 Oct 2015
  93. What is a maritime forest?
    16 Oct 2015
  94. What is a High Seas Forecast?
    8 Oct 2015
  95. What is a bight?
    9 Sep 2015
  96. What is a thermocline?
    28 Jul 2015
  97. What is a Portuguese Man o’ War?
    22 Jul 2015
  98. What is subsidence?
    2 Jul 2015
  99. What is a wetland?
    6 May 2015
  100. What is HAZMAT?
    23 Apr 2015
  101. What is an ocean glider?
    3 Apr 2015
  102. What is glacial isostatic adjustment?
    23 Mar 2015
  103. How does NOAA monitor water levels around the nation?
    18 Mar 2015
  104. How do natural disasters contribute to marine debris?
    11 Mar 2015
  105. What is a marsh organ?
    11 Feb 2015
  106. What is a nautilus?
    6 Feb 2015
  107. What is a platypus?
    4 Feb 2015
  108. What is spat?
    22 Jan 2015
  109. What is a turbidity current?
    12 Jan 2015
  110. What is geocaching?
    20 Nov 2014
  111. What is a geographic information system?
    19 Nov 2014
  112. What is the Census of Marine Life?
    12 Nov 2014
  113. What is aquaculture?
    7 Nov 2014
  114. What are Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems?
    31 Oct 2014
  115. What is an Operational Forecast System?
    23 Oct 2014
  116. Why does the ocean have waves?
    23 Oct 2014
  117. How far does sound travel in the ocean?
    29 Sep 2014
  118. Do fish sleep?
    16 Sep 2014
  119. What is blue carbon?
    4 Sep 2014
  120. What is PORTS®?
    11 Aug 2014
  121. What is nuisance flooding?
    30 Jul 2014
  122. What is tectonic shift?
    18 Jul 2014
  123. What is a whale fall?
    13 Jun 2014
  124. What are the horse latitudes?
    5 Jun 2014
  125. Are horseshoe crabs really crabs?
    14 May 2014
  126. What are PBDEs?
    21 Apr 2014
  127. When Was the First Earth Day?
    19 Apr 2014
  128. What is a pelagic fish?
    26 Mar 2014
  129. What is bombogenesis?
    25 Mar 2014
  130. What do geodesists do?
    19 Mar 2014
  131. What is the International Date Line?
    10 Mar 2014
  132. What is the longest-lived marine mammal?
    5 Mar 2014
  133. What is an anchialine pool?
    31 Jan 2014
  134. What is an artificial reef?
    3 Dec 2013
  135. Are there oceans on other planets?
    19 Nov 2013
  136. What is dredging?
    4 Nov 2013
  137. What is a slough?
    23 Sep 2013
  138. Is the Earth round?
    18 Sep 2013
  139. What is a hurricane?
    19 Aug 2013
  140. Was Moby Dick a real whale?
    31 Jul 2013
  141. Why do we name tropical storms?
    16 Jul 2013
  142. What is a seiche?
    26 Jun 2013
  143. Why do mariners use port and starboard instead of left and right?
    24 Jun 2013
  144. What is a fish ladder?
    16 May 2013
  145. What is a bivalve mollusk?
    22 Apr 2013
  146. What is ocean acidification?
    1 Apr 2013
  147. What is a Plimsoll line?
    26 Feb 2013
  148. What is lidar?
    23 Jan 2013
  149. What is the most venomous marine animal?
    15 Jan 2013
  150. Why do we have spring tides in the fall?
    28 Nov 2012
  151. What is the difference between storm surge and storm tide?
    26 Nov 2012
  152. What is the mariner's 1-2-3 rule?
    20 Nov 2012
  153. What is the difference between a hurricane watch and a warning?
    27 Sep 2012
  154. What is the difference between an AUV and a ROV?
    17 Sep 2012
  155. What is shoreline armoring?
    24 Aug 2012
  156. What is the difference between a nautical mile and a knot?
    6 Aug 2012
  157. What is 'Old Sow'?
    16 Jul 2012
  158. Are mermaids real?
    27 Jun 2012
  159. Where is Point Nemo?
    15 Jun 2012
  160. What's the difference between a threatened and endangered species?
    18 May 2012
  161. Why are scientists concerned about Asian tiger shrimp?
    27 Apr 2012
  162. What is a perigean spring tide?
    3 Apr 2012
  163. What is sea foam?
    8 Mar 2012
  164. How big is the Atlantic Ocean?
    21 Feb 2012
  165. What is a datum?
    1 Feb 2012
  166. What is the Sargasso Sea?
    25 Jan 2012
  167. How do we forecast harmful algal blooms?
    6 Jan 2012
  168. What are Christmas tree worms?
    22 Dec 2011
  169. Does coral jewelry make a good gift?
    15 Dec 2011
  170. What is an iceberg?
    30 Nov 2011
  171. What is the cryosphere?
    30 Nov 2011
  172. Where do I get NOAA tides and currents data?
    29 Nov 2011
  173. What is a turkeyfish?
    23 Nov 2011
  174. What is the geoid?
    17 Nov 2011
  175. What is Digital Coast?
    14 Nov 2011
  176. What is the law of the sea?
    14 Nov 2011
  177. How do I get NOAA nautical charts?
    7 Nov 2011
  178. What makes the green turtle...green?
    18 Oct 2011
  179. What is a historical map or chart?
    7 Oct 2011
  180. What is ghostfishing?
    27 Sep 2011
  181. Are sea cucumbers vegetables?
    13 Sep 2011
  182. What is the Storm QuickLook?
    7 Sep 2011
  183. What is the difference between weather and climate?
    10 Aug 2011
  184. How did the Pacific Ocean get its name?
    13 Jun 2011
  185. Is there gold in the ocean?
    8 Jun 2011
  186. Are starfish really fish?
    1 Jun 2011
  187. Why are aquatic plants so important?
    26 May 2011
  188. What are jellyfish made of?
    26 May 2011
  189. What is seaweed?
    5 May 2011
  190. How can you tell the difference between an oil slick and an algal bloom?
    26 Apr 2011
  191. How did the Hawaiian Islands form?
    13 Apr 2011
  192. Do the Great Lakes have tides?
    4 Apr 2011
  193. How much of the ocean have we explored?
    1 Apr 2011
  194. What is lightering?
    21 Mar 2011
  195. What is air gap?
    28 Feb 2011
  196. What is a marine national monument?
    12 Feb 2011
  197. What is VDatum?
    3 Feb 2011
  198. What is a salt marsh?
    27 Dec 2010
  199. What is Natural Resource Damage Assessment?
    8 Dec 2010
  200. What threats do seabirds face?
    17 Nov 2010
  201. What's the difference between a seal and a sea lion?
    25 Oct 2010
  202. How does pressure change with ocean depth?
    20 Oct 2010
  203. What is NERRS?
    13 Oct 2010
  204. What ocean basin has the most corals?
    7 Oct 2010
  205. Are coral animals or plants?
    6 Oct 2010
  206. What is the EEZ?
    1 Oct 2010
  207. How do we monitor tides?
    15 Sep 2010
  208. What is a navigation response team?
    30 Aug 2010
  209. Why is the ocean salty, but rivers flowing into it are not?
    23 Aug 2010
  210. What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise?
    18 Aug 2010
  211. What is marine forensic science?
    10 Aug 2010
  212. What is an invasive species?
    6 Aug 2010
  213. Why does the ocean get colder at depth?
    28 Jul 2010
  214. What makes the right whale "right"?
    21 Jul 2010
  215. How long is the U.S. shoreline?
    14 Jul 2010
  216. Where is the largest estuary in the United States?
    7 Jul 2010
  217. What is an eddy?
    28 Jun 2010
  218. What is the difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon?
    22 Jun 2010
  219. What is the largest sea turtle?
    15 Jun 2010
  220. Why is data on currents important?
    9 Jun 2010
  221. What is a waterspout?
    4 Jun 2010
  222. What is the significance of the NOAA logo?
    26 May 2010
  223. What is the Loop Current?
    21 May 2010
  224. What is a seamount?
    14 May 2010
  225. Can penguins fly?
    11 May 2010
  226. How does oil impact marine life?
    4 May 2010
  227. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
    22 Apr 2010
  228. How is bathymetric data used?
    2 Apr 2010
  229. How do sanctuaries protect marine life?
    25 Mar 2010
  230. What are brain corals?
    15 Mar 2010
  231. Are dolphins fish?
    10 Mar 2010
  232. What is bathymetry?
    2 Mar 2010
  233. What is bioluminescence?
    12 Feb 2010
  234. What is a tidal wave?
    8 Feb 2010
  235. Do alligators live in the ocean?
    1 Feb 2010
  236. Is sea level the same all across the ocean?
    21 Jan 2010
  237. How is ocean observing data used?
    19 Jan 2010
  238. What is the Bermuda Triangle?
    8 Jan 2010
  239. What is the National Spatial Reference System?
    4 Jan 2010
  240. Where is all of the Earth's water?
    15 Dec 2009
  241. What is federal consistency?
    11 Dec 2009
  242. What is the smallest ocean?
    30 Nov 2009
  243. Do whales make noise?
    23 Nov 2009
  244. What are the three main types of coral reefs?
    20 Nov 2009
  245. Where is the largest protected area in the National Marine Sanctuary system?
    19 Nov 2009
  246. What lives in a kelp forest?
    10 Nov 2009
  247. What is maritime heritage?
    5 Nov 2009
  248. How do we measure currents?
    28 Oct 2009
  249. What was the first national marine sanctuary to be designated?
    20 Oct 2009
  250. What threats do coastal communities face?
    15 Oct 2009
  251. Are all algal blooms harmful?
    8 Oct 2009
  252. Did I find a lost underwater civilization?
    2 Oct 2009
  253. Why do we study tides?
    1 Oct 2009
  254. What is geodesy?
    22 Sep 2009
  255. What are PCBs?
    18 Sep 2009
  256. What is the difference between land cover and land use?
    10 Sep 2009
  257. What is nutrient pollution?
    1 Sep 2009
  258. What is resilience?
    27 Aug 2009
  259. What is an environmental sensitivity index map?
    24 Aug 2009
  260. What is a dead zone?
    21 Aug 2009
  261. What is a national marine sanctuary?
    18 Aug 2009
  262. What can I do to protect coral reefs?
    10 Aug 2009
  263. What is remote sensing?
    10 Aug 2009
  264. What is ecosystem science?
    4 Aug 2009
  265. How frequent are tides?
    27 Jul 2009
  266. What are phytoplankton?
    27 Jul 2009
  267. What is a guyot?
    21 Jul 2009
  268. Who first charted the Gulf Stream?
    21 Jul 2009
  269. How do people use kelp?
    13 Jul 2009
  270. What is the biggest fish in the ocean?
    13 Jul 2009
  271. What is "smart growth"?
    7 Jul 2009
  272. Do sharks eat people?
    7 Jul 2009
  273. What is the largest ocean basin on Earth?
    30 Jun 2009
  274. Can humans drink seawater?
    29 Jun 2009
  275. Where are marine protected areas located?
    23 Jun 2009
  276. What is IOOS?
    23 Jun 2009
  277. What are El Nino and La Nina?
    17 Jun 2009
  278. What is a kelp forest?
    17 Jun 2009
  279. What is the global ocean conveyor belt?
    12 Jun 2009
  280. What is a coral reef made of?
    12 Jun 2009
  281. How is sea level rise related to climate change?
    4 Jun 2009
  282. What is a mangrove forest?
    4 Jun 2009
  283. Is change important to estuaries?
    26 May 2009
  284. What types of plants and animals live in an estuary?
    26 May 2009
  285. What does an oceanographer do?
    18 May 2009
  286. What is a rip current?
    14 May 2009
  287. Are lionfish a threat to Atlantic Ocean fish?
    24 Apr 2009
  288. What is upwelling?
    24 Apr 2009
  289. What is marine snow?
    24 Apr 2009
  290. How long does it take to produce a nautical chart?
    6 Apr 2009
  291. What do the numbers mean on a nautical chart?
    6 Apr 2009
  292. Can the ocean freeze?
    30 Mar 2009
  293. What is a tsunami?
    30 Mar 2009
  294. What is marine debris?
    30 Mar 2009
  295. What is a current?
    30 Mar 2009
  296. Can marine debris degrade on its own in the environment?
    25 Mar 2009
  297. What does peanut butter have to do with the ocean?
    18 Mar 2009
  298. In what types of water do corals live?
    16 Mar 2009
  299. How fast is the Gulf Stream?
    12 Mar 2009
  300. What is the largest living structure on Earth?
    10 Mar 2009
  301. What's the difference between an ocean and a sea?
    25 Feb 2009
  302. What are the seven seas?
    25 Feb 2009
  303. What percentage of marine areas are protected?
    18 Feb 2009
  304. Where can I get tide predictions?
    18 Feb 2009
  305. What is a hydrothermal vent?
    13 Feb 2009
  306. What is an extremophile?
    13 Feb 2009
  307. What is coastal zone management?
    30 Jan 2009
  308. Do volcanoes occur in the ocean?
    30 Jan 2009
  309. What is a rogue wave?
    28 Jan 2009
  310. What can the ocean teach us about life on other planets?
    27 Jan 2009
  311. Where is the highest tide?
    23 Jan 2009
  312. What are tides?
    22 Jan 2009
  313. Why do we have oceans?
    22 Jan 2009
  314. How many oceans are there?
    21 Jan 2009
  315. How does sound travel in the ocean?
    21 Jan 2009
  316. Why is the ocean blue?
    16 Jan 2009
  317. How much water is in the ocean?
    15 Jan 2009
  318. What is a nautical chart?
    14 Jan 2009
  319. What do coral reefs have to do with medicine?
    14 Jan 2009
  320. Why is the ocean salty?
    13 Jan 2009
  321. What is a marine protected area?
    7 Jan 2009
  322. What's the difference between a tide and a current?
    6 Jan 2009
  323. Why do Harmful Algal Blooms occur?
    6 Jan 2009
  324. What is a red tide?
    5 Jan 2009
  325. What is the biggest source of ocean pollution?
    4 Dec 2008
  326. How far does light travel in the ocean?
    3 Dec 2008
  327. What percentage of the American population lives near the coast?
    3 Dec 2008
  328. How much of the ocean have we explored?
    2 Dec 2008
  329. What's the difference between a nautical chart and a map?
    1 Dec 2008
  330. What is a sonar?
    27 Nov 2008
  331. What species live in and around coral reefs?
    26 Nov 2008
  332. What is hydrography?
    25 Nov 2008
  333. How important is the ocean to our economy?
    19 Nov 2008
  334. What role does the Ocean Service play with our nation's aircraft and airports?
    19 Nov 2008
  335. What role does the ocean play in the weather?
    18 Nov 2008
  336. Is sea level rising?
    10 Nov 2008
  337. How do coral reefs protect life and property?
    10 Nov 2008
  338. What is the longest mountain range on earth?
    7 Nov 2008
  339. What is a benthic habitat map?
    5 Nov 2008
  340. What is an estuary?
    3 Nov 2008
  341. How do coral reefs benefit the economy?
    15 Oct 2008
  342. How deep is the ocean?
    3 Oct 2008
Search Our Facts
Get Social

More Places to Visit!

Last updated:
Author: NOAA
How to cite this article

Contact Us