Misconceptions about the Ocean - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep. 44) | Mental Floss

Hi, I'm Elliot and this is Mental Floss Video. Today I'm going to talk about some misconceptions about the ocean

You think you know what's going on with the ocean, but you have no idea. Misconception number one, the saltiness in seawater is essentially table salt

So the water in the ocean is very salty, but it's not composed as if someone just dumped a bunch of table salt into it

Basically, it's considered salt water because it contains a bunch of minerals that come from the earth's surface

Rain and snow pick up minerals from the ground, which turns into runoff that goes into the ocean

So seawater has a lot of sodium and chlorine in them. But it also has a bunch of sulfates, magnesium, calcium, and potassium

And because the definition for salt is so vague, these can all qualify. Misconception number two. The ocean gets progressively deeper towards the middle

Much like the land on earth, the surface of the ocean is not consistent. It has its equivalent of mountains and canyons and flat plains

The ocean contains trenches, which is the word scientists use to describe the deepest parts

And these are formed when plates meet, which often means that one of the plates moves further down, causing a trench to emerge

One example of this is Mariana Trench, which is about a thousand miles away from Japan

and its deepest point is around 36 feet Misconception number three an undertow can pull a person underwater and hold them there Let me start by saying that people often confuse undertow with rip current So the undertow is basically a current near the shore that helps keep the water flow consistent

as the waves crash. And, unlike the undertow, rip currents aren't always present, but they're a stronger current

that pulls away from the shore. Neither undertows nor rip currents can pull a person underwater and drown them, though

rip currents are the ones that pull swimmers far away from the shore. Then people struggle to get back to shore, and that can be dangerous and result in drowning

Misconception number four, there are not huge waves far away from shore. People typically only see big waves close to the shore, so they assume that's not a

problem in the open ocean. But there are rogue waves, which can be a major problem in the middle of the ocean

In order to be considered a rogue wave, the wave must be over twice significant wave height

which is basically the mean of the tallest waves in a given area. In 1995, a rogue wave was reported at 84 feet, and these can be a major problem for boats

including huge ocean liners. Have fun on your next cruise, guys. Misconception number five, icebergs are made of salt water

An iceberg is a chunk of ice that floats in the water after separating from a larger piece of land-based ice

And they're not made up of salt water, they're actually fresh water. That actually makes sense if you think about it because icebergs come from land ice

So they're basically compacted snow, which is fresh water. Misconception number six the ocean appears blue because it reflecting the sky No it not reflecting the color of the blue sky it actually absorbing it Basically the ocean is continually being hit by sunlight and as you probably know

that happens in the form of waves, which contain a whole spectrum of color. The ocean typically absorbs the red wavelengths quicker

The blue wavelengths head deeper into the ocean, then they get scattered and re-emitted from within the ocean

And that's how our eyes take them in. So to us, the ocean appears blue. It's not. It's all yellow colors

Misconception number seven, we could explore the deepest parts of the ocean

So you may know that we've only explored less than 5% of the ocean, but many people think that's because of a lack of interest

No way guys, it's super interesting down there, okay? The truth is, we just don't have the technology needed in order to explore it

Scientists are trying to develop something known as the sea orbiter, which would basically be a space station for the ocean

It could make more ocean exploration possible, but it's still being developed. Alright, let's finish up with some misconceptions about marine animals

Are you excited? They're not real. Misconception number eight, corals are mineral deposits, or fossils, or rocks

People still find it hard to believe that coral reefs are made up of marine animals. So what happens is corals attach their exoskeletons to objects underwater, like rocks or even shipwrecks

They actually have tentacles so they're able to catch fish and plankton to eat. They might not look like animals but they are Please treat them respectfully Misconception number nine a porpoise is the same as a dolphin Guys dolphins and porpoises are different animals and they getting tired of hearing otherwise There are a few differences Dolphins have longer beaks and more

curved dorsal fins and porpoises are usually a little larger and make less noise than dolphins do. But they're both members of the cetacea family and they're

both intelligent mammals who live underwater. Misconception number ten, whales spray water from their blowholes. Just like dolphins and porpoises, whales

are members of the cetacea family, so they're also mammals who need to breathe air and they do that through a blowhole on the top of their heads. Once they've

inhaled air through their blowhole most whales can hold their breath for over an hour but eventually they need to exhale. When they come above the surface to do

that it often looks like they're blowing out water. What they're really blowing out is mostly warm air. Warm because it's been inside of a huge warm body and the

air outside is usually way cooler than the air that's being exhaled so it condenses and looks like water. But a whale is primarily inhaling and exhaling

air like any mammal does. Oh and they also exhale mucus. Lots and and just lots

of mucus. Thank you for watching Misconceptions on Mental Floss Video. If you have a topic for an upcoming Misconceptions episode that you would like to see, let us

know what it is in the comments below. I'll check it out and I'll see you next week. Bye