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Bursting with wildlife and teeming with mysteries to be solved, our oceans are one of the most amazing habitats on Earth. Take a deep breath, gang, as we dive into our ocean facts...
Top ten ocean facts

1. Around 70% of the planet's surface is covered by oceans. In fact, the oceans hold about 96.5% of all water on Earth.

2. The largest ocean on Earth is the Pacific Ocean, covering around 30% of the Earth's surface.

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3. The name "Pacific Ocean" comes form the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea".

4. The deepest known area of the Earth's oceans is known as the Mariana Trench. It's deepest point measures 11km. That's a long dive down!

5. The world's oceans are home to incredible creatures that are masters of disguise! Take a look for yourself...

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable ocean ecosystems primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

6. The longest mountain range in the world is found under water. Stretching over 56,000km, the Mid-Oceanic Ridge is a mountain chain that runs along the centre of the ocean basins.

7. About 70% of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the oceans.

8. The sea is home to the world's largest living structure - the Great Barrier Reef. Measuring around 2,600km, it can even be seen from the Moon!

9. We have only explored about 5% of the world's oceans. There's a lot more to be discovered!

10. The sea can be described as the planet's mega museum. There are more artefacts and remnants of history in the ocean than in all of the world's museums combined! Pretty amazing, huh?

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Plastic Pollution primary resource, all about protecting our oceans and sea life? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

Video: TED2007
Photos: Getty Images UK

Did you enjoy our ocean facts? Let us know which one was your favourite by leaving a comment below!

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Bursting with wildlife and teeming with mysteries to be solved, our oceans are one of the most amazing habitats on Earth. Take a deep breath, gang, as we dive into our ocean facts... 1. Around 70% of the planet's surface is covered by oceans. In fact, the oceans hold about 96.5% of all water on Earth.

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Take a deep breath, gang, and join Nat Geo Kids as we learn ten fab facts about one seriously splash-tastic sea creature - in our bottlenose dolphin facts!
Facts about bottlenose dolphins

1) Bottlenose dolphins are marine mammals that live in tropical and temperate oceans (oceans with mild temperatures) around the world. This includes the waters off the UK and Ireland, where you can spot them swimming and playing in bays and river estuaries!

2) These beautiful creatures have a short thick beak (as their name suggests!) and a curved mouth, giving the appearance that they are always smiling. They are usually grey in colour, and measure around two to four metres in length.

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3) Social creatures, bottlenose dolphins travel in groups, called " pods ", of around 10-15. In these groups they play and hunt together, as well as cooperate to raise young dolphin calves and help each other.

4) Bottlenose dolphins are super swimmers, gliding through the water using their curved dorsal fin on their back, a powerful tail and pointed flippers. They can reach speeds over 30km an hour and dive as deep as 250m below the surface!

5) These cool creatures are awesome acrobats, too, and can be seen flipping (or " breaching ") out of the water. In fact, they can launch themselves up to five meters out of the water before crashing back down with a splash! There are different theories as to why they do this - it could be to get a better view of things in the distance, clean parasites off their bodies, communicate with other pods or just for good fun!

6) Although they live underwater, the bottlenose dolphin must come up to the surface to breath air. It breathes through what"s called a " blowhole ", a hole at the top of its head. These clever creatures can open this hole when inhaling and exhaling out of the water, and close it when below the ocean surface. They can hold their breath underwater for around seven minutes.

7) Bottlenose dolphins are kings of communication! They send each other messages in different ways - they squeak and whistle and also use body language, leaping out of the water, snapping their jaws and even butting heads!

8) These magnificent mammals also produce high-pitched clicks to help them navigate and find food - a process called " echolocation ". When the clicking sounds hit an object in the water - such as a rock or fish - they bounce back to the dolphin as echoes. From this, the super swimmers can work out the location, size and shape of the object. Cool, eh?

9) Carnivores, our finned friends eat mostly fish, but will also eat crustaceans such as shrimp and squid, too.

10) Thankfully, bottlenose dolphins are not classed as endangered. However, illegal hunting, fishing nets and pollution pose threats to these incredible creatures.

Love reading about sea life? Then be sure to check out our Humpback whale facts!

Image ⓒ Picture of dolphin stretched out above water: Photograph by Kjersti Joergensen, Dreamtime. Picture of a dolphin closeup in water: Photograph by Michael Price, Dreamtime. Picture of a dolphin jumping: Photograph by Avslt71, Dreamtime.

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10 facts about bottlenose dolphins - National Geographic Kids

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10 facts about bottlenose dolphins. Where do bottlenose dolphins live? How do they breathe? What do they eat? Find out all about this marine mammal here!

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Humpbacks are the noisiest whales, with males "singing" for up to 15 minutes at a time. The sounds they make are the most varied in the animal kingdom, ranging from high-pitched squeals to low, rumbling gurgles. Only males "sing" and experts think they do it to attract females or to let other males know they're in the area.

Humpback whales are known for their magical songs, which travel for great distances through the world's oceans. These sequences of moans, howls, cries, and other noises are quite complex and often continue for hours on end. Scientists are studying these sounds to decipher their meaning. It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates.

These whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the Equator.

Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appear to be gestures of affection. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old.

Humpbacks are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it. These whales, like others, regularly "breach". This is when the whales leap from the water before landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists aren't sure if this breaching behavior serves some purpose, such as cleaning pests from the whale's skin, or whether whales simply do it for fun!

Photos: Getty Images UK

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Humpback Whale Facts! | National Geographic Kids

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Humpbacks are the noisiest whales, with males "singing" for up to 15 minutes at a time. The sounds they make are the most varied in the animal kingdom, ranging from high-pitched squeals to low, rumbling gurgles. Only males "sing" and experts think they do it to attract females or to let other males know they're in the area.

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Hey kids, get ready to hold your breath and take a dip in the sea, as we explore these intere-sting stingray facts!
With the help of our friends over at The Deep, their stingray experts have helped us put together some fishy facts on these magnificient sea creatures - and what"s more, you can download their infographic for free and stick it on your wall!

Stingrays come in all shapes and sizes and are one of the most beautiful creatures in the sea, but let's face it, they are a little bizarre looking! Check out our cool facts about them, below...

1. Rays and skates are flattened fish closely related to sharks. All belong to a group of fish called Elasmobranchs.

2. These guys are pretty unique as they have no bones in their body - their skeleton is made up of flexible cartilage (the bendy stuff that your ears and nose are made from!).

3. Although they look near identical, rays and skates are actually different. Stingrays are ovoviviparous, meaning the young are hatched from eggs that are held within the body, whereas skates are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs - these eggs are protected by a hard, rectangular case often called a " mermaid"s purse "!

4. There are many different types of ray including stingrays, electric rays, butterfly rays, round rays, manta rays, guitarfish and sawfish.

5. Stingrays use a super set of senses to search for food. Special gel-filled pits across the front of their face, (called Ampullae of Lorenzini), allow them to pick up electrical signals from other animals when they move - cool! Their eyes are on the topside of their body and their mouth and gills can be found underneath, so in the darker depths or murky rivers this electromagnetic sense is especially useful for searching for prey.

6. Many stingrays like to live by themselves and only come together for breeding and migration. Some of the largest rays such as manta rays and cow nose rays never stop swimming and migrate in their thousands to feeding grounds each year. These large groups can reach up to 10,000 individuals and are known as a " fever ".

7. Rays protect themselves with venomous spines or barbs in their tail. Skates rely on thorny projections on their backs and tails.

8. Stingrays and skates feed on crustaceans, small fish, snails, clams, shrimp and other small creatures.

9. In 2008, a female bluespotted ribbontail ray gave birth to a set of twins at The Deep aquarium in Hull - a European first!

10. Stingrays" natural predators are sharks, seals, sea lions and other large fish.

11. Electric rays are named for their ability to generate and discharge a strong electric current to stun prey and for defence from potential predators.

12. Fossil records date stingrays back to the Jurassic period, 150 million years ago!

13. Rays can vastly vary in size. The smallest ray is the short-nose electric ray which is approximately 10cm across and weighs about 400g. The oceanic manta ray is the largest ray reaching up to 7m in wing span and weighs 2,000kg.

14. Sadly, numbers of sting ray are in decline. Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are the major threats to rays. They"re also hunted for their gill rakers (used for feeding) for use in Chinese medicine. At present, 539 species of ray assessed are under the IUCN Red List, and 107 are classified as threatened.

The Deep is part of the European Breeding Programme for the bluespotted ribbontail ray and blue spot stingray, as well as the species monitoring programme for the honeycomb whiptail ray. This means they are helping to safeguard populations of these species and are leading the way in pioneering new husbandry techniques.

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14 facts about stingrays! | National Geographic Kids

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Hey kids, get ready to hold your breath and take a dip in the sea, as we explore these intere-sting stingray facts! With the help of our friends over at The Deep , their stingray experts have helped us put together some fishy facts on these magnificient sea creatures - and what"s more, you can download their infographic for free and stick it on your wall!

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Find out all about one of the ocean's most fascinating fish with our super-cool seahorse facts!

Fast seahorse facts

Family: Syngnathidae
Genus: Hippocampus
Classification: Fish
IUCN status: Data Deficient or Vulnerable, depending on species
Lifespan (in wild): 3 years
Weight: 200g
Body size: 2-35cm
Top speed: 150cm per hour
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Ocean
Range:

Seahorses are tiny fish that are named for the shape of their head, which looks like the head of....yup, you guessed it -a tiny horse. There are around 36 seahorse species, which are found in tropical and temperate coastal waters where they swim upright among seaweed and other plants.

Seahorses' bodies are covered in tiny, spiny plates, all the way from their head down to their curled, flexible tail. The tail can grasp objects, which comes in handy when these cool critters want to anchor themselves to vegetation. To move forward through the water, seahorses use their dorsal fin (back fin). To move up and down, they adjust the volume of air in a tiny pocket inside their body, called a ' swim bladder '.

The seahorse life-cycle is one of the most fascinating nature has to offer! A female seahorse lays dozens, sometimes hundreds, of eggs in a pouch on the male seahorse's abdomen. Called a ' brood pouch ', it's a bit like the pouch of a kangaroo, used for carrying young. Depending on the seahorse species, the eggs remain in the brood pouch for up to 45 days, until the eggs are ready to hatch. The new baby seahorses, each about the size of an M&M, find other baby seahorses and float together in small groups, clinging to each other using their tails. Cute, eh? Unlike kangaroos, though, baby seahorses do not return to the pouch. These guys have it tough, and must find food and hide from predators as soon as they're born!

A master of camouflage, these fab fish can be incredibly difficult to spot. Camouflage not only helps the seahorse avoid predators, such as crabs and other fish, it helps it to be a predator, too. Feeding on small crustaceans, seahorses are super-skilled ambush predators. Rather than chasing their food, they wait, unnoticed, for prey to pass by. They then suck their unsuspecting victim though their tube-like mouth, before swallowing it whole. Gulp!

Two species of seahorse can be found in coastal waters off the UK and Ireland - the Spiny Seahorse and the Short Snouted Seahorse. Have you ever been lucky enough to see one?

Picture credits - Seahorse face: Richard Carey, Dreamstime. Seahorse in ocean grasses: Lukas Blazek, Dreamstime.

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Seahorse facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Seahorse facts for kids: learn all about these fab fish, with facts about seahorse characteristics, behaviour, habitat, range, diet and life cycle.

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Ready to get up-close and personal with one of nature's quirkiest creatures? Then check out our awesome octopus facts!

Fast octopus facts

Scientific name: Octopoda
Family name: Octopodidae
Classification: Invertebrate
IUCN status: Not evaluated
Lifespan (in wild): 1-2 years
Weight: 3-10kg
Body length: Generally 30-90cm (some species can grow to 5.4m!)
Top speed: 40km/h
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Ocean
Range:

Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes and eight long arms. These cool critters live in all the world's oceans, but they're especially abundant in warm, tropical waters. Like their cousin, the squid, octopuses are often considered ' monsters of the deep ', lurking in the depths of the seas. However, there are some kinds of octopus that live in relatively shallow waters.

Most octopuses stay along the ocean's floor, although some species are ' pelagic,' meaning they live near the water's surface. Other octopus species live in deep, dark waters, and rise from below at dawn and dusk to search for food. They perform their famous backward swim by blasting water through a muscular tube on their body called a siphon. They also crawl along the ocean's floor, tucking their arms into small openings to search for food.

Favourites on the octopus' menu include crabs, shrimps and lobsters, but they will sometimes eat larger prey, too, such as sharks. When going for grub, octopuses typically drop down on their prey from above, and then use the powerful suctions that line their arms to pull their victim into their mouth.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable octopus primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

Octopuses themselves provide tasty meals for other sea creatures, such as seals, whales and large fish, who like to gobble them up. But these eight-armed animals have a few cheeky tricks to help defend themselves! If threatened, octopuses shoot an inky fluid from their body that darkens the water around them, confusing the aggressor. They can also hide and blend in with their surroundings, too, by changing colour to grey, brown, pink, blue or green. Impressive stuff! As well as for camouflage, these incredible invertebrates use colour change as a way to communicate with other octopuses.

For the most part, octopuses are solitary creatures and live alone in dens made from rocks. And check this out - they build their dens themselves by moving the rocks into place with their powerful arms. Cool, eh? These brilliant builders sometimes even fashion a rock "door" that pulls closed when the octopus is safely inside the den.

Although octopuses are not considered endangered, they do face dangers from human activity. Such threats include habitat destruction, and a reduction in their main foods due to over fishing and marine pollution.

Picture credits - Octopus and its tentacles: Michal Adamczyk, Dreamstime. Octopus shooting inky fluid: Vittorio Bruno, Shutterstock. Octopus blending in with ocean floor: Serban Enache, Dreamstime.

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Octopus facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Octopus facts for kids: Learn all about these cool invertebrates, with facts about octopus characteristics, behaviour, diet, habitat and defence mechanisms.

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Here at Nat Geo Kids we're turtally mad about turtles, that's why we've put together these ten terrific turtle facts!
These magnificent creatures come in all shapes and sizes and live in a number of different environments. They all belong to a group of reptiles called Testudines, which includes turtles, tortoises and terrapins.

From giant, slow-moving land-dwelling tortoises and snappy terrapins basking in their fresh-water lagoons, to the graceful strokes of a sea turtle gliding through our oceans - check out our ten totally awesome turtle facts, below!

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1. Turtles belong to one of the oldest reptile groups in the world - beating snakes, crocodiles and alligators!

2. These creatures date back to the time of the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago - woah!

3. Turtles are easily recognised by their bony, cartilaginous shell . This super-tough casing acts like a shield to protect them from predators - some turtles can even tuck their head up inside their shell for extra protection!

Just like your bones, a turtle's shell is actually part of its skeleton. It's made up of over 50 bones which include the turtle's rib cage and spine.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable sea turtle primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

5. Contrary to popular belief, a turtle cannot come out of its shell. The turtle's shell grows with them, so it's impossible for them to grow too big for it!

6. What a turtle eats depends on the environment it lives in. Land-dwelling turtles will munch on beetles, fruit and grass, whereas sea dwellers will gobble everything from algae to squid and jellyfish.

7. Some turtles are carnivores (meat eaters), others are herbivores (plant eaters) and some are omnivores (a mixture of the two!). Many baby turtles start life as carnivores but grow to eat more plants as they mature.

8. Turtles are ' amniotes ' - they breathe air and lay their eggs on land, although many species live in or around water.

9. These cold-blooded creatures have an incredibly long life span. The oldest ever recorded, named Tu"i Malila, of Tonga Island, passed away at the grand old age of 188!

10. Sadly, many species of turtle are endangered! 129 of approximately 300 species of turtle and tortoise on Earth today are either vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, according to the IUCN. Threats include loss of habitat, pollution, poaching and the illegal pet trade.

Do you turt-ally love turtles? Then get to know some awesome species with our great green turtle facts, swimmingly good loggerhead turtle facts AND fab leatherback turtle facts.

What do you think of our turtle facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

Images ⓒ Getty Images: Turtle in water, (636749403) . Turtle on sand, (558962897) Turtle swimming, (502266246) . Baby turtle, (127834157)

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Here at Nat Geo Kids we're turtally mad about turtles, that's why we've put together these ten terrific turtle facts! These magnificent creatures come in all shapes and sizes and live in a number of different environments. They all belong to a group of reptiles called Testudines, which includes turtles, tortoises and terrapins.

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Take a deep breath, gang - because we're diving to the depths of the ocean with some cool killer whale facts!

Fast killer whale facts

Scientific name: Orcinus orca
Family name: Delphinidae
Classification: Mammal
IUCN status: Data deficient
Lifespan (in wild): 50-90 years
Weight: Males up to 9,000kg. Females up to 5,500kg
Head and body length: Males up to 9.8m. Females up to 8.5m
Top speed: 48km/h
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Ocean
Range:

Eight tonnes of pure power whacks an ice floe floating in cold Arctic waters. The seal lying on top of the ice doesn't stand a chance. Knocked into the sea, the seal becomes a meal for one of the ocean's top predators - the huge killer whale!

Killer whales, also called orcas, hunt everything from fish to walruses - seals, sea lions, penguins, squid, sea turtles, sharks and even other kinds of whales are all on their menu. Depending on the season and where they are, their diet varies - some eat plenty of fish and squid, others feast mostly on seals and penguins. But wherever they are in any of the world's oceans, average-sized killer whales may eat about 227 kilograms of food a day!

These mega marine mammals have many hunting techniques, and bumping seals off ice is just one of them. Often referred to as ' wolves of the sea ', killer whales live and hunt together in 'pods', or family groups, much like a pack of wolves.

Working together as they hunt, groups of killer whales cooperate to herd fish into a compact area so that they're easier to gobble up. They will also slap their tails onto the water's surface, causing a wave to wash prey (such as penguins or sea lions) off ice floes and into the water.

Sometimes, a pod of whales will join forces to surround a larger animal, such as a blue whale. They chase, bite and wear it down until it becomes weak enough for them to feast on.

Killer whales have around 45 teeth (each around 7.6 centimeters long), which are shaped for ripping and tearing prey. Instead of chewing their food, they take one big gulp - and believe it or not, these brilliant beasts can swallow small seals and sea lions whole! Bigger prey is ripped into chunks before being eaten.

Scientists believe the colour pattern of killer whales may help them sneak up on and attack their prey. Their backs are black, and their stomachs are white. Animals looking down on this powerful predator from above, such as a seal on an ice floe, might not see it because the whale's dark back blends with the water below.

On the other hand, the killer whale's white underside blends with the light streaming down into the sea from the surface, making it hard to spot from below. Such cool camouflage means prey like fish, penguins and seals are likely to miss the danger heading their way. Crafty, eh?!

Credits - Text adapted from feature by Catherine D. Hughes

Photos - Orca breaching, side: Monika Wieland, Shutterstock. Orca breeching, belly: Bspujari, Dreamstime. Group of orcas: Ivkovich, Shutterstock. Orca with head out of water. Tom Middleton, Shutterstock. Others: Getty.

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Killer whale facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Take a deep breath, gang - because we're diving to the depths of the ocean with some cool killer whale facts! Scientific name: Orcinus orca Family name: Delphinidae Classification: Mammal IUCN status: Data deficient Lifespan (in wild): 50-90 years Weight: Males up to 9,000kg. Females up to 5,500kg Head and body length: Males up to 9.8m.

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Fun shark facts for kids including photos and printable activity worksheets; suitable for Kindergarten through Grade 6.

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Here are some fun learning resources to help you educate your students and children about caring for our marine environment.

Ocean Fact sheets & Fun

Animal Fact Sheets

Colouring & Puzzles

Ocean Murals

Online Activities

Deepsea Dive Interactive LearningExplore the depths of the ocean with this fun interactive graphic as you meet creatures from the surface of the sea down to the darkest depths of some of the Earth's deepest oceans.

Ocean Crafts

Learning Resources

Ocean fun sheets

Suitable for fun learning at home - not curriculum based, thanks to learningpage.com

Shark Safety

Interesting Reading

Interesting Videos

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Here are some fun learning resources to help you educate your students and children about caring for our marine environment. Animal Fact Sheets Colouring & Puzzles Ocean Murals Online Activities Deepsea Dive Interactive LearningExplore the depths of the ocean with this fun interactive graphic as you meet creatures from the surface of the sea down to the darkest depths of some of the Earth's deepest oceans.