The ocean contains 95% of living space on the planet but is woefully under-explored. This remains true despite the vital functions the ocean provides, such as supporting life and regulating oxygen levels.
While the average depth of the ocean is about 2.65 miles, the deepest part is upwards of 6.86 miles deep. This area is called the Challenger Deep, which is located in the western Pacific Ocean.
Deeper water means higher pressure and lower temperatures. These harsh conditions can make deep ocean exploration challenging. Water temperature hovers around 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the pressure is nearly 110 times greater than the earth’s surface. However, due to new technology and rising interest, this is beginning to change.
Watch the video below for an overview of the ocean’s depth.
Special thank you to Real Life Lore for this fascinating video!
Do you know the origins behind common nautical phrases like ‘cup of Joe’? What about ‘as the crow flies’? ‘Shake a leg’?
It may come as a surprise that these common nautical phrases have interesting roots. While we cannot verify the historical context of these terms, they sure are a lot of fun!
Groggy
Meaning unwell the term groggy denotes a hangover from the alcoholic drink grog. The word grog comes from “Old Grog,” which was the nickname sailors gave to Admiral Vernon, the commander in chief of the West Indies. Admiral Vernon was renowned for watering down his sailors’ rum ration. This watered down rum become known as grog.
Three sheets to the wind
Very drunk. In sailors’ language, a sheet is a rope. If three sheets are not attached to the sails as they ought to be, the sail will flap and the boat will lurch around in a drunken fashion. Sailors had a sliding scale of drunkenness. This common nautical phrase had s sliding scale: tipsy was “one sheet”, whereas falling over was “three sheets”.
As the crow flies
Crows like to be on dry land and will fly straight, bypassing rivers, water, and other obstacles to be ashore. Ships carried crows and in cases of poor visibility, scouts let one free and charted the bird’s flight to shore.
Additionally, the term ‘crow’s nest’ stems from an old Norse practice of attaching a cage full of crows to the mast. The crows were eventually phased out for more modern forms of navigation, but the term remained.
Chock a block
This nautical phrase came as a surprise. Chocks are wedges that secure moving objects. A block and tackle is a pulley system on sailing ships that hoist the sails. A possible derivation is that when two blocks of rigging tackle were so close together they couldn’t be tightened further, it was said they were “chock-a-block”.
Knows the ropes
In sailing’s early days, this term was written on a seaman’s discharge to indicate that he was still a novice and only knew the names and uses of the principal ropes or lines. Today, this is mostly used conversely—to indicate that someone has an understanding of processes or procedures.
Cup of Joe
Josephus Daniels was appointed as Secretary of the Navy in 1913. Almost immediately, he banned wine and spirits from ships. From then on, the strongest drink aboard Navy ships was coffee, and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as “a cup of Joe”.
Shake a leg
This hotly debated phrase has multiple origin stories. However, one source claims that this phrase originates from the British Royal Navy—officers would order sleeping sailors to throw a leg out from their hammocks to wake up.
Son of a Gun
These days, this phrase is often used in polite conversation instead of a more vulgar term.
Traced this back to the British Royal Navy. Although the Navy had rules against it, they occasionally turned a blind eye to women joining sailors on long voyages. So, in the rare case where a child with uncertain paternity was born onboard, they were listed in the ship’s log as ‘son of a gun’.
Every year from November to March, Nassau Grouper spawn (mate) during the Full Moon.
A spawning aggregation site may attract hundreds and sometimes thousands of fish. Historically some aggregations had tens of thousands of fish. Nassau Grouper undergo a number of color changes during breeding. The most distinctive change is the bi-color phase in which the upper side of the fish becomes a dark color and the lower side a light color. The distinctive saddle-shaped marking at the base of the tail is still visible.
The color changes vary, but there are four distinct changes visible:
Normal – The typical coloration of a Nassau grouper.
Bi-color – Top of the fish is dark, and lower part is white. Around the time of spawning, a high proportion of Nassau groupers will demonstrate this coloration.
White belly – These are a lighter version of the normal color pattern, and can have white abdomens swollen with eggs.
Dark – Found in courting and spawning fish, the entire body is dark.
CLOSED FOR MATING. Thanks again to BREEF for this goofy photo.
The closed season for Nassau Grouper is from December 1 through February 29. 7. Spearfishing is restricted to free divers only and only with the use of a Hawaiian sling, and not for Lobster which has to be taken by hand. 2.
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That’s one observant turtle! Thanks to BREEF for the photo.
Let the world know that we love the Nassau Grouper and want it around forever. #breef242 #nassaugrouper
