The waters that move around the Antarctic continent are unique and deserve to have a name, and cartographers at National Geographic have now dubbed that area the Southern Ocean.
According to National Geographic Society Geographer Alex Tait:
“The Southern Ocean has long been recognized by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognized it.”
Over the past 106 years, National Geographic had only recognized the Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans as actual oceans. On World Oceans Day this week, though, the society added the Southern Ocean to that list.
“Her Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle — a National Geographic-sponsored explorer — loved the addition of another officially named ocean:
“While there is but one interconnected ocean, bravo to National Geographic for officially recognizing the body of water surrounding Antarctica as the Southern Ocean. Rimmed by the formidably swift Antarctic Circumpolar Current, it is the only ocean to touch three others and to completely embrace a continent rather than being embraced by them.”
Check out the full story at nationalgeographic.com.
