Covers 71 percent of the planet and holds 97 percent of its water
Key factor in the storage and transfer of heat energy across the globe
Movement of heat through local and global ocean currents affects the regulation of local weather conditions and temperature extremes and stabilization of global climate patterns
Important for transporting salts, nutrients and marine creatures
Knowledge of currents is vital for navigation, shipping, search and rescue and the dispersal of pollutants
The top 400 metres of the ocean's surface is moved primarily by winds that blow in certain patterns because of the Earth's spin and the Coriolis Effect
These currents flow in a regular pattern but they can vary in depth, width and speed
The Coriolis Effect deflects currents into circular patterns called gyres
The movement of cold water currents from the deep sea to the surface
This occurs in very productive fishing grounds as the upwellings brings nutrients from the seabed which provide food for the growth of plankton, often the start of marine food chains
Whale sharks gathering in the tropical waters of the Gulf of Tadjoura off the coast of Djibouti (Africa) to feast on prolific plankton blooms induced by oceanographic upwelling