Portal:Oceans


Selected panorama

– Hover over image and scroll to middle for controls to see more selected panorama images –

Introduction

Surface view of the Atlantic Ocean

The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic Ocean), and are themselves mostly divided into seas, gulfs and subsequent bodies of water. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earth's energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water cycle, forming the basis for climate and weather patterns worldwide. The ocean is essential to life on Earth, harbouring most of Earth's animals and protist life, originating photosynthesis and therefore Earth's atmospheric oxygen, still supplying half of it. (Full article...)

Waves in Pacifica, California

A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water. (Full article...)

Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean' and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The Panthalassa superocean 250 million years ago

Panthalassa, also known as the Panthalassic Ocean or Panthalassan Ocean (from Greek πᾶν "all" and θάλασσα "sea"), was the vast superocean that encompassed planet Earth and surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, the latest in a series of supercontinents in the history of Earth. During the PaleozoicMesozoic transition (c. 250 Ma), the ocean occupied almost 70% of Earth's surface, with the supercontinent Pangaea taking up the remaining one third. The original, ancient ocean floor has now completely disappeared because of the continuous subduction along the continental margins on its circumference. Panthalassa is also referred to as the Paleo-Pacific ("old Pacific") or Proto-Pacific because the Pacific Ocean is a direct continuation of Panthalassa. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Interesting facts -

Julie Packard
Julie Packard
  • Female seaweed blennies deposit their eggs in a shared nest where the male fish guards them until they hatch.

Selected list articles and Marine habitat topics

Tasks


Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

General images -

The following are images from various ocean-related articles on Wikipedia.

In the news

4 August 2025 – India–Philippines relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
The Indian and Philippine navies conduct their first joint exercise in the Philippine-designated exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. The Indian Navy deployed guided missile destroyers, tankers, and corvettes, while the Philippines sent two frigates. (AP) (Reuters)
29 July 2025 – Red Sea crisis
The Houthis launch a ballistic missile targeting Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel, which was intercepted by Israeli forces. (The Times of Israel)
28 July 2025 – Red Sea crisis
Houthi attacks on commercial vessels
The Houthis release a video showing ten crewmembers of the Greek-operated cargo ship Eternity C, which the group attacked and sunk earlier this month, in captivity. (Reuters)
25 July 2025 – Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
A boat carrying Egyptian migrants and Sudanese crewmen en route to Europe capsizes off the coast of Tobruk, Cyrenaica, Libya, killing at least 15 people, injuring 10 others and leaving some missing. (AP)

WikiProjects

WikiProjects
WikiProjects
  • WikiProject Oceans
  • WikiProject Limnology and Oceanography
  • WikiProject Marine life
  • WikiProject Cetaceans
  • WikiProject Fishes
  • WikiProject Sharks

Related WikiProjects
  • WikiProject Arthropods
  • WikiProject Fisheries and Fishing
  • WikiProject Lakes
  • WikiProject Rivers

Topics


More topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories Oceans
Oceans
Categories by ocean
Categories by sea or ocean
Landforms by sea or ocean
Oceans-related lists
Seas
Oceans surrounding Antarctica
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Submarine cables
Coasts
Ocean currents
Marine energy
Oceans and seas in fiction
Historical oceans
Indian Ocean
Indo-Pacific
Law of the sea
Ocean maps
Marine conservation
Oceanaria
Pacific Ocean
Submarine pipelines
Ocean pollution
Southern Ocean
Works set on oceans
World Ocean


Seas
Seas
Categories by sea
Categories by sea or ocean
Seas by country
Seas by continent
Seas of the Arctic Ocean
Seas of the Atlantic Ocean
Sea in culture
Sea and river deities
Oceans and seas in fiction
Seas of Greenland
Seas of the Indian Ocean
Lists of seas
Marginal seas
Marine energy
Maritime transport
Seas of the Pacific Ocean
Seas of the Southern Ocean


Oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanographers
Marine geophysicists
Oceans
Seas
Oceanography awards
Biological oceanography
Chemical oceanography
Oceanographic expeditions
Ocean exploration
Fracture zones
Oceanographic instrumentation
Oceanography journals
Marine biology
Marine geology
Marine meteorology
Maritime culture
Oceanographic Time-Series
Oceanographical terminology
Oceanography of Canada
Oceanographic organizations
Paleoceanography
Physical oceanography
Research vessels
Underwater diving companies
Underwater diving sites
Underwater explorers
United States Exploring Expedition
Oceanography stubs

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Admiralty law

Need assistance?

Need assistance?
Need assistance?

Do you have a question about oceans, seas or oceanography that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.

External media

External media
External media

Discover Wikipedia using portals