# Only one ocean. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657 "2011-03-06T03:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/1 "2011-03-06T03:49:08Z")
looking at this rather sinple [map](http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/oceansl.htm) seems to confirm my opinion that there is only one ocean. I don’t see, ignoring ice, where a ship couldn’t sail. I first came to this when I was a little kid and looked at a globe. The nuns got really pissed when I insisted, so I finally shut up. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/2 "2011-03-06T04:02:36Z")
Dude. Whoa . . . ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/3 "2011-03-06T04:07:05Z")
That same map seems to confirm that Asia and Africa are only one country. I don’t see why one couldn’t drive from South Africa to eastern China. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/4 "2011-03-06T04:19:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That same map seems to confirm that Asia and Africa are only one country. I don’t see why one couldn’t drive from South Africa to eastern China. A better comparison would be that they are one continent. That’s why you could take your drive. Countries are political divisions. BTW; isn’t there a race (the contest) that does that? Next! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/5 "2011-03-06T04:22:39Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Dude. Whoa . . . What??? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/6 "2011-03-06T04:26:25Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > What??? Exactly. Right? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/7 "2011-03-06T04:45:21Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Exactly. Right? Are we…texting? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/8 "2011-03-06T04:46:03Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I first came to this when I was a little kid and looked at a globe. The nuns got really pissed when I insisted, so I finally shut up. I assume you were trying to get out of failing your geography test. 😃 “Ocean,” like continent, is an arbitrary concept. Before Columbus sailed, there was one “Ocean,” the outer seas beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The other waters were seas: the Mediterranean, the Black, the Red, the Caspian. That’s why Columbus took as his title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/9 "2011-03-06T04:48:50Z")
Okay, I see the problem, **RR**. In the OP I typed “sinple” instead of “simple”. Gettin’ old. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/10 "2011-03-06T04:56:17Z")
Actually, you were just ahead of your time. There seems to be more mention lately of the one ocean, the [World Ocean](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Ocean), instead of the (5? 4? 3?) oceans that are traditional. Comes with the territory of arbitrarily dividing something that’s essentially one piece, but deep in your heart, you _know_ it’s more than one. Like the continents - I bet you were the type of kid to tell the nuns there are also only 4 continents as well (the Americas, Afro-Eurasia, Antarctica, and Australia), anything else introduces an arbitrary division line. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/11 "2011-03-06T05:03:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I assume you were trying to get out of failing your geography test. 😃 😛 No, I’ve always had a problem with things that didn’t make sense. Like Noah’s Ark. That one got me into some trouble too. The final straw, which came later, was the virgin birth. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/12 "2011-03-06T05:12:32Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > Actually, you were just ahead of your time. There seems to be more mention lately of the one ocean, the [World Ocean](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Ocean), instead of the (5? 4? 3?) oceans that are traditional. > > Comes with the territory of arbitrarily dividing something that’s essentially one piece, but deep in your heart, you _know_ it’s more than one. Like the continents - I bet you were the type of kid to tell the nuns there are also only 4 continents as well (the Americas, Afro-Eurasia, Antarctica, and Australia), anything else introduces an arbitrary division line. It could be argued that the Americas are now two, since somebody had the bright idea to whack it in two at it’s skinny point. A good idea, as it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/13 "2011-03-06T05:53:58Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > at it’s skinny point Did you argue with the nuns about grammar too? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/14 "2011-03-06T06:51:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That same map seems to confirm that Asia and Africa are only one country. I don’t see why one couldn’t drive from South Africa to eastern China. You could (though it’d involve at least one ferry thank’s to the Suez). You could also (at least in theory) drive from South Africa to Argentina. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/15 "2011-03-06T07:33:52Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > You could (though it’d involve at least one ferry thank’s to the Suez). No, there’s a bridge over the Suez Canal that you could drive across. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/16 "2011-03-06T07:39:19Z")
Oh, you mean Panthalassa. We drifted away from that concept. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/17 "2011-03-06T07:49:58Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > You could (though it’d involve at least one ferry thank’s to the Suez). You could also (at least in theory) drive from South Africa to Argentina. Really? How would you get over the Bering Strait? ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/18 "2011-03-06T07:50:09Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > looking at this rather sinple [map](http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/oceansl.htm) seems to confirm my opinion that there is only one ocean. I don’t see, ignoring ice, where a ship couldn’t sail. I first came to this when I was a little kid and looked at a globe. The nuns got really pissed when I insisted, so I finally shut up. > Peace, > mangeorge Further to the point, “Earth” is a misnomer. Our terracentrism is showing. It is self-evident that our planet should rightly be named “Ocean”. I bet that’s what the dolphins call it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/19 "2011-03-06T07:56:20Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657/20 "2011-03-06T08:25:19Z")
> [@aesop](#): > > Further to the point, “Earth” is a misnomer. Our terracentrism is showing. It is self-evident that our planet should rightly be named “Ocean”. Not really; Rock maybe, but not Ocean. The oceans are just a slight dampness on the surface of the huge ball of rock and metal that is Earth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-one-ocean/573657.md?page=2)