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Oceans

Oceans
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean

 

 

 

The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is in the Northern Hemisphere. Most of this ocean is the Arctic polar region and it is the the smallest and shallowest of the major oceans of the Earth.

The Arctic Ocean has coastlines on the Eurasia and North American continents and most of the Arctic Ocean is normally covered by sea ice throughout most of the year.

Ursus maritimus

polar bear
Polar bear
User: Ansgar_Walk
Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic

Beluga Whales
beluga whales
User: Diliff
GNU Free Documentation License

Ovibos moschatus

musk oxa
musk ox
User: Quart
Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Ursus maritimus

polar bear swimming
Polar bear swimming
User: Ansgar_Walk
Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic

Animal and plant life

The ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean is fragile. It includes walruses and whales, which are endangered marine species . There is little plant life apart from phytoplankton which plays an essential role in maintaining the ecosystems.

Polar Bears

The polar bear is native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. It is the world's largest carnivore found on land and is able to cope with cold temperatures and moving easily on ice and snow. It is an excellent swimmer and hunts for seals in the water and on ice.


Ursus maritimus

polar bear and cub
Polar bear and cub
Author: Alan D. Wilson
Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

narwhales
narwhales
Author: Glenn Williams
work by the U.S. government
Image in public domain

Walrus

The walrus is a large marine mammal. It is distinguished by having prominent tusks and whiskers. The walrus is a relatively long-lived animals within the Arctic marine ecosystem.

Seals

The Arctic Ocean contains harp seals, hooded seals and ringed seals.

Beluga whales

Adult Beluga whales are white. They grow to just under 5m in length and around 1500m in weight. They tend to travel and hunt in groups.