# Ocean to ocean canals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230 "2017-06-17T18:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/1 "2017-06-17T18:48:16Z")
Are there any other ocean-to-ocean canals besides the following: [ol] [li] Suez Canal[/li][li] Panama Canal[/li][li] Kiel Canal[/li][li] [White Sea-Baltic Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sea%E2%80%93Baltic_Canal)[/li][li] [Cape Cod Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Canal)[/li][li] [Corinthian Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal)[/li][li] [Caledonian Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Canal)[/li][li] [Göta Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ta_Canal)[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/2 "2017-06-17T19:39:40Z")
The [Crinan Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinan_Canal) crosses the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/3 "2017-06-17T20:29:04Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > The [Crinan Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinan_Canal) crosses the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. Hardly an ocean to ocean canal, is it ? I’m assuming the OP means two different oceans. If the Caledonian Canal is admitted as connecting two oceans, then so does the Union Canal, which since 2002 has been connected with the Forth and Clyde canal. EDIT : I see that he _doesn’t_ mean two different oceans … ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/4 "2017-06-17T21:46:26Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > If the Caledonian Canal is admitted as connecting two oceans, then so does the Union Canal, which since 2002 has been connected with the Forth and Clyde canal. > > EDIT : I see that he _doesn’t_ mean two different oceans … No I don’t mean two different oceans. I don’t think the Union Canal qualifies, since it only goes to the Forth & Clyde Canal. But the F&C Canal does, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/5 "2017-06-17T23:46:37Z")
The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal qualifies, if you consider it going from Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/6 "2017-06-17T23:59:37Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal qualifies, if you consider it going from Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay. Looking at the map, the Delaware end looks more like the river than the bay. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/7 "2017-06-18T00:03:34Z")
I presume you’re after single canals and wouldn’t count systems of multiple canals and navigable rivers such as the following 1. from the Baltic to the Black Sea through the Volga-Baltic Waterway, Volga River, and Volga-Don Canal 2. from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay or the English channel through various canals and rivers through France. 3. from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the Mississippi River, Chicago Ship Canal, and St. Lawrence Seaway. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/8 "2017-06-18T00:16:04Z")
Would you count the [Shinnecook Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Canal) on Long Island? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/9 "2017-06-18T00:30:05Z")
There was also the [Xerxes canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerxes_Canal) across the Mount Athos Peninsula which fell into disrepair almost as soon as it was built around 483 BC. It was only in the 1990s that archaeologists finally confirmed that it had crossed the entire width of the isthmus. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/10 "2017-06-18T01:46:16Z")
I’m not quite sure what is the “ocean to ocean” criterium; surely Corinthian canal is connecting two sides of the Aegean sea? The sea is part of the Mediterranean which is part of the Atlantic, but following that logic surely all sea-to-sea canals are ocean canals (save for inner seas such is the Caspian)? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/11 "2017-06-18T05:23:54Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I presume you’re after single canals and wouldn’t count systems of multiple canals and navigable rivers such as the following No, the Göta Canal in the OP is multiple canals connecting lakes but it was built as a single project. None of the ones you suggested were, though, so they are right out. > [@bibliophage](#): > > Would you count the [Shinnecook Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Canal) on Long Island? That one looks good. > [@Moris](#): > > , but following that logic surely all sea-to-sea canals are ocean canals (save for inner seas such is the Caspian)? If you know of a sea-to-sea canal, propose it. The Caspian is a lake, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/12 "2017-06-18T05:55:35Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If you know of a sea-to-sea canal, propose it. The Caspian is a lake, by the way. Propose it? There must be hundreds of canals splitting a smallish sea island in two, or peninsula from the mainland! [This one, for example](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osor%2C_Croatia?wprov=sfla1). There are a few more in the Adriatic IIRC. (And yes, of course Caspian is a lake, but for all intents and purposes it’s an inland sea.) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/13 "2017-06-18T13:42:19Z")
[Pender Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pender_Island) in British Columbia was divided in two by the construction of a canal in 1903. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/14 "2017-06-18T15:41:36Z")
Will the ever-proposed Med-Dead canal count? ETA: What’s the difference between an ocean and a sea? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/15 "2017-06-18T16:39:26Z")
Or the difference between a large lake and an inland sea. The Great Lakes are essentially seas. What about the Erie Canal, using that definition. It connects Lake Erie - at Buffalo - essentially to the Atlantic via the Hudson River at Albany. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/16 "2017-06-18T18:22:12Z")
[Falsterbo canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsterbo_Canal) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/17 "2017-06-18T18:25:04Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Or the difference between a large lake and an inland sea. The Great Lakes are essentially seas. They’re saltwater? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/18 "2017-06-18T19:29:36Z")
The salinity of a body of water has nothing to do with whether it’s a lake or not. There are salt or brackish lakes all over the world, such as the Great Salt Lake. Despite their size, the Great Lakes are considered lakes by geographers. So is the Dead Sea and as I said, the Caspian Sea. I’m going with this standard for this question. As far as the difference between oceans and seas, for this question there is none. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/19 "2017-06-20T17:27:59Z")
the Canal des Duex Mers [Canal des Deux Mers - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_des_Deux_Mers) runs through France via Atlantic \> River \> Canal 1 \> Canal 2 \> Lagoon \> Mediterrean So it’s not exactly a one-shot canal from ocean to ocean, but it was conceived as a way to go from ocean to ocean (avoiding a long trip around Spain.) Technically the Panama Canal is Atlantic Ocean \> Canal 1 \> Lake \> Canal 2 \> Pacific Ocean ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230/20 "2017-06-20T17:42:04Z")
There is a canal connecting the Rhine to the Danube. This is a navigable connection from the Black sea to the North sea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ocean-to-ocean-canals/789230.md?page=2)