How Deep are our Oceans and Seas?
Without our oceans and seas, there would be no fish. In our regular blog feature we explore the depth, area and volume of Earth's oceans and seas. Here is a run down of the depth and area of the Atlantic ocean.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean covers an area of approximately 60,000,000 (sixty million!) square miles, or nearly 160,000,000 (one hundred and sixty million!) square kilometres.
The Atlantic Ocean has an average depth of around 13,000 feet, or around 4000 metres. It has a greatest depth of around 36,000 feet, or 11,000 metres.
The Atlantic Ocean makes up around 23% of the total volume of the Earth's oceans. The Atlantic Ocean is the world's richest fishing waters and it also contains rich natural gas and oil deposits. The Atlantic Ocean is home to the second-largest barrier reef in the world, the Cancun Reef off the coast of Mexico.
How Many Fish Live in the Oceans on Earth?
Scientists estimate the total number of fish in the Earth's ocean to be around 3,500,000,000,000, comprising of around 20,000 different species. However, accurately counting the number of fish is near-impossible task. It is very difficult to estimate what percentage inhabit the Atlantic Ocean.
The estimated number of fish in our oceans and seas is constantly changing due to environmental factors, plus as fishing, predation, and reproduction.
Photo credit(s): The Atlantic Ocean in the NE coast of Puerto Rico, Engineer824 Getty Images (above) Sunrise over Atlantic Ocean with dramatic sky in Florida, Elena Photo, Canva Pro Licence (Title image)
