The Earth Now Has A New Ocean

If you think back to geography class, you probably remember learning that there were four oceans and seven seas on the earth. Well, From this point forward, maps put out by National Geographic will have a fifth ocean added to the list. Instead of just being the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. new maps will now also include the Southern Ocean.

So, what is the Southern Ocean and where did it come from? According to National Geographic, the Southern Ocean is the body of water that surrounds Antarctica. Here’s how it was described by Seth Sykora-Bodie, a marine scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a National Geographic Explorer.

“Anyone who has been there will struggle to explain what’s so mesmerizing about it, but they’ll all agree that the glaciers are bluer, the air colder, the mountains more intimidating, and the landscapes more captivating than anywhere else you can go.” 

National Geographic has been making maps of the world since 1915, and despite there being a general consensus for several years that the Southern Ocean is a unique body of water, it was not until yesterday, World Oceans Day when the organization made the decision to make it official by adding it to all future maps.