Discover the Depths: Top 8 Amazing Fun Facts About the Mysterious Southern Ocean

1. Ocean Kardashian

In an era of more breakups than the Kardashians, the world's oceans just couldn't resist the trend and welcomed a new member to the family: The Southern Ocean was officially recognized as the fifth ocean by the US Board on Geographic Names in 1999, but it took some time for other International Hydrographic Organization members to warm up to its proposed boundaries. Recently, the National Geographic Society decided to join the party, listing the Southern Ocean alongside the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans in their educational materials and maps.
Source => washingtonpost.com

2. Chillingly Cool

Step aside, Poseidon: there's a lesser-known waterway that's making waves for being oozingly brimming with deep-sea critters and algae galore! No red carpets on this side of Atlantis, but the Southern Ocean does hold the record for the highest proportion of abyssal-dwelling creatures and over 10,000 species of algae, all while playing a crucial role in Earth's climate regulation and the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole. So when it comes to coolness, it's ice cold!
Source => nature.com

Did you know the Pacific Ocean is so massive that it could fit the Atlantic Ocean twice and still have room to spare? Dive into more fun facts about this colossal ocean, including its deepest secrets, by clicking "read more"!

=> Fun Facts about The-Pacific-Ocean

3. Poseidon's Hide-and-Seek

Navigating the Southern Ocean is like playing a game of hide-and-seek with Poseidon, full of stormy surprises and sneaky detours: Expedition 383 scientists had to "Run Away from Weather" and dodge a storm the size of Australia for two weeks, only to seize the opportunity and conduct surface water sampling amidst nannofossil private investigation, ultimately claiming success in recovering new sedimentary climate records.
Source => news.climate.columbia.edu

4. Iceberg Breakup Drama

In a cold-hearted act of separation that Lady Gaga would sing about, the Antarctic ice shelves decided to "coolly"(break)up with their better half, giving birth to a frozen superstar: Enter Iceberg B-15, one of the most colossal chunks of ice ever to float upon the sea, measuring a whopping 295 by 37 kilometers. Born from the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000, B-15 has been drifting and breaking up like a slow-motion Titanic nightmare, with one of its star-children, B-15ab, currently grounded on a timeout in the Amery region of Antarctica.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Flavor Jackpot Trench

Picture this: you're deep-diving into the world's best sandwich and hit the ultimate flavor jackpot! Well, in a not-so-edible way, that's what happened with the South Sandwich Trench: The Five Deeps Expedition team, including scientists from Caladan Oceanic LLC and the British Geological Survey, discovered the deepest point in the Southern Ocean, measuring a mind-boggling 7,432 meters deep, and shedding light on the largely unexplored subzero hadal zone.
Source => bgs.ac.uk

6. Albatross Frequent Flier

If the wandering albatross had a frequent flier program, it would soar through the charts and make serious air miles envy its swanky perks: The Wandering Albatross, with its magnificent wingspan of 2.51 to 3.5 meters, is known to have circumnavigated the Southern Ocean three times in a single year, logging over 120,000 km on its feathery account.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Technicolor Underwater Kingdom

Move over, Wizard of Oz, Antarctica's marine life is the true master of Technicolor! Beneath the white and icy surface lies a rainbow-hued underwater kingdom that would make Dorothy quite envious: In the Southern Ocean, a myriad of vibrantly colored invertebrates thrive in the frigid waters, while decapod crustaceans stick to warmer areas. This ecosystem resembles the Paleozoic era, with top predators like ribbon worms, starfish, and sea-spiders ruling the seascape.
Source => coolantarctica.com

8. Antarctic Merry-Go-Round

Feeling left out in the cold, the Southern Ocean boasts of its own massive merry-go-round called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: The strongest current system on Earth, it flows clockwise around Antarctica, connecting the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans while shielding the ice-capped continent from warmer waters, fueling a unique, enriching convergence and supporting a cornucopia of marine life.
Source => en.wikipedia.org