# We have a new ocean! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866 "2002-04-26T22:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/1 "2002-04-26T22:51:42Z")
I know, you’ve always thought there were four oceans…the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Arctic and the Indian. Well, it turns out, in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to designate all the water surrounding Antarctica up to 60 degrees South the “Southern Ocean” The little thing’s only 20.327 million sq. km. You can come on over and say hi to it here… [http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/oo.html](http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/oo.html) So join me in saying hi to the newest member of the Oceanic family. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/2 "2002-04-26T23:21:29Z")
Lame. I declare a puddle in my lawn the “Tars Tarkas Ocean” ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/3 "2002-04-26T23:23:33Z")
It’s from the CIA page? And you believe it? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/4 "2002-04-26T23:42:49Z")
I want to join the International Hydrographic Organization, just so I can tell people I belong to the International Hydrographic Organization. Person: And what do you do in your spare time? Me: I participate in the activities of the International Hydrographic Organization. Person: Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/5 "2002-04-26T23:43:07Z")
Well, the World Factbook is USUALLY pretty accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/6 "2002-04-27T00:19:01Z")
Glad to see you Northerners have caught up – those of us down South having been calling it the Southern Ocean for years. The [Aussie](http://www.science.org.au/nova/018/018key.htm) take on it provides a bit more data. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/7 "2002-04-27T00:25:14Z")
8 oceans now? “OH OH!!! That dog has a puffy tail!!! Here doggy doggy!!” (There’s a simpsons quote for everything) ---
**Author:** ![hobgnoblin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hobgnoblin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobgnoblin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/8 "2002-04-27T00:59:49Z")
If the northern ocean is called the Arctic Ocean, why isn’t the Southern Ocean called the Antarctic Ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/9 "2002-04-27T01:06:18Z")
They’ll have to stick my body in the cold, cold ground before I lose the Amundsen Sea to the [sub][sup]s[/sup][/sub]outhern Ocean. Long live the Pacific! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/10 "2002-04-27T01:27:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hobgnoblin \* > \*\*If the northern ocean is called the Arctic Ocean, why isn’t the Southern Ocean called the Antarctic Ocean? \*\* [In some cases, it is called that.](http://www.interaktv.com/geog/antarcticocean.html) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/11 "2002-04-27T02:10:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Strainger \* > Person: And what do you do in your spare time? > Me: I participate in the activities of the International Hydrographic Organization. > Person: Hmmm. No no no! It would go like this: Person: And what do you do in your spare time? Me: I’m a member of the I.H.O. Person: Does this mean you have water on the brain? (loud guffaws) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/12 "2002-04-27T09:57:36Z")
In the 1950s and 1960s-era geography textbooks I grew up on, there was _always_ an Antarctic Ocean. So they renamed it. “Southern Ocean” sounds fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-a-new-ocean/105866/13 "2002-04-27T12:30:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*The little thing’s only 20.327 million sq. km. \*\* What’s that to an Alaskan?