this is a cult for all things ocean related! whether you love to swim in the ocean, love sea animals, love mermaids and ancient mythology about sea gods, or are water sign, or love anything ocean related, this cult is for you!
An ocean (from Greek ???????, "okeanos" Oceanus[1]) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (~3.61 X 1014 m2) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.
More than half of this area is over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Scientists estimate that 230,000 marine life forms of all types are currently known, but the total could be up to 10 times that number.[2]
Though generally described as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water sometimes referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean.[3][4] This concept of a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography.[5]
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria. These divisions are (in descending order of size):
* Pacific Ocean, which separates Asia and Australia from the Americas * Atlantic Ocean, which separates the Americas from Eurasia and Africa * Indian Ocean, which washes upon southern Asia and separates Africa and Australia * Southern Ocean, which, unlike other oceans, has no landmass separating it from other oceans and is therefore sometimes subsumed as the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, which encircles Antarctica and covers much of the Antarctic * Arctic Ocean, sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic, which covers much of the Arctic and washes upon northern North America and Eurasia
The Pacific and Atlantic may be further subdivided by the equator into northern and southern portions. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays, straits and other names.
Geologically, an ocean is an area of oceanic crust covered by water. Oceanic crust is the thin layer of solidified volcanic basalt that covers the Earth's mantle. Continental crust is thicker but less dense. From this perspective, the earth has three oceans: the World Ocean, the Caspian Sea[citation needed], and Black Sea. The latter two were formed by the collision of Cimmeria with Laurasia. The Mediterranean Sea is at times a discrete ocean, because tectonic plate movement has repeatedly broken its connection to the World Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar. The Black Sea is connected to the Mediterranean through the Bosporus, but the Bosporus is a natural canal cut through continental rock some 7,000 years ago, rather than a piece of oceanic sea floor like the Strait of Gibraltar.
Despite their names, smaller landlocked bodies of saltwater that are not connected with the World Ocean, such as the Aral Sea, are actually salt lakes.
mermaids
The word is a compound of mere, the Old English word for "sea", and maid, a woman. The male equivalent is a merman.
Much like sirens, mermaids sometimes sing to people and gods and enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing them to walk off the deck or run their ships aground. Other stories depict them squeezing the life out of drowning men while attempting to rescue them. They are also said to carry humans down to their underwater kingdoms. In Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it is said that they forget that humans cannot breathe underwater, while others say they drown men out of spite.[citation needed]
The sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as mermaid-like; in fact, some languages use the same word for both bird and fish creatures, such as the Maltese word 'sirena'. Other related types of mythical or legendary creatures are water fairies (e.g., various water nymphs) and selkies, animals that can transform themselves from seals to humans.[citation needed]
sea gods
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Another important focus of worship of water deities were springs or holy wells.
Greek mythology Main article: Greek sea gods
* Aegaeon, god of violent sea storms and ally of the Titans * Akheilos, shark-shaped sea spirt * Amphitrite, sea goddess and consort of Poseidon * Anapos, water god of eastern Sicily * Brizo, goddess of sailors * Carcinus, a giant crab who allied itself with the Hydra against Heracles. When it died, Hera placed it in the sky as the constellation Cancer. * Ceto, goddess of the dangers of the ocean and of sea monsters * Charybdis, a sea monster and spirit of whirlpools and the tide * Cymopoleia, a daughter of Poseidon and goddess of giant storm waves * Delphin, the leader of the dolphins, Poseidon placed him in the sky as the constellation Delphin * Doris, goddess of the sea's bounty * Eidothea, prophetic sea nymph and daughter of Proteus * Electra, Oceanid, consort of Thaumas * Eurybia, goddess of the mastery of the seas * Galene (??????), goddess of calm seas * Glaucus, the fisherman's sea god * Gorgons, three monstrous sea spirits o Stheno o Euryale o Medusa * The Graeae, three ancient sea spirits who personified the white foam of the sea; they shared one eye and one tooth between them * The Harpies, winged spirits of sudden, sharp gusts of wind * Hippocampi, the horses of the sea * The Ichthyocentaurs, a pair of centaurine sea-gods with the upper bodies of men, the lower fore-parts of horses, ending in the serpentine tails of fish o Bythos o Aphros * Ladon, a hundred-headed sea serpent who guarded the western reaches of the sea, and the island and golden apples of the Hesperides * Leucothea, a sea goddess who aided sailors in distress * Nerites, watery consort of Aphrodite * Nereus, the old man of the sea, and the god of the sea's rich bounty of fish * Nymphs o Naiades, fresh water nymphs o Nereides, sea nymphs o Oceanides, fresh water nymphs * Oceanus, Titan god of the Earth-encircling river Okeanos, the font of all the Earth's fresh-water * Palaemon, a young sea god who aided sailors in distress * Phorcys, god of the hidden dangers of the deep * Pontus, primeval god of the sea, father of the fish and other sea creatures * Poseidon, king of the sea and lord of the sea gods; also god of rivers, flood and drought, earthquakes, and horses. His Roman equivalent is Neptune. * Proteus, a shape-shifting, prophetic old sea god, and the herdsman of Poseidon's seals * Psamathe, goddess of sand beaches * Scylla, monstrous sea goddess * The Sirens, three sea nymphs who lured sailors to their death with their song * The Telchines, sea spirits native to the island of Rhodes; the gods killed them when they turned to evil magic * Tethys, wife of Okeanos, and the mother of the rivers, springs, streams, fountains and clouds * Thalassa, primeval spirit of the sea and consort of Pontos * Thaumas, god of the wonders of the sea and father of the Harpies and the rainbow goddess Iris * Thetis, leader of the Nereids who presided over the spawning of marine life in the sea * Triteia, daughter of Triton and companion of Ares * Triton, fish-tailed son and herald of Poseidon * Tritones, fish-tailed spirits in Poseidon's retinue
