78 Ocean Trivia Questions and Answers for Kids and Families

Question: What is the deepest part of the ocean?
Answer: The Mariana Trench.
Question: Which coral system, located off the coast of Queensland, is the largest in the world, comprising of over 2,900 reefs and 900 islands, spreading over 2,300 square kilometers?
Answer: The Great Barrier Reef
Question: What British overseas territory, partially protected from severe hurricanes by a surrounding coral reef, is often associated with unexplained aircraft disappearances?
Answer: Bermuda
Question: What is currently happening to the size of the Pacific Ocean due to plate tectonics?
Answer: It’s increasing Size.
Question: The Mariana Islands consist of an arc-shaped archipelago with 15 volcanic mountains in the Pacific Ocean. Which island is the largest in this chain?
Answer: Guam
Question: What percentage of the Earth is covered by oceans?
Answer: Over 79%.
Question: Which fish, known as a “cuda” for short, belongs to the large saltwater fish of the genus Sphyraena?
Answer: Barracuda.

Question: The Mariana Trench, the lowest known point on Earth, lies how far below sea level?
Answer: 35,797 ft.
Question: Approximately how many islands are there in the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: About 25,000
Question: Mission Park in San Diego, CA, houses a location of what animal theme park and oceanarium?
Answer: SeaWorld
Question: In which ocean is the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, located?
Answer: The Atlantic Ocean
Question: What causes the water near the equator to be less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes?
Answer: Because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year.
Question: Until when was the ocean often called the Sea of Magellan in honor of Magellan, the explorer?
Answer: Until the eighteenth century.
Question: What is the range of surface water temperatures in the Pacific, varying from the freezing point of seawater (29.5 °F) to what temperature near the equator?
Answer: About 86 °F near the equator.
Question: Who discovered the east side of the ocean?
Answer: Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513, after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean.
Question: In contrast to bony fish, what material makes up the skeletons of Chondrichthyes, such as sharks and rays?
Answer: Cartilage.
Question: Which small, oily fish, also known as a “pilchard,” probably gets its common English name from an Italian island where it was once said to be abundant?
Answer: Sardine.
Question: Phonorids, marine animals that filter feed and build homes out of chitin, are also known as what type of worms?
Answer: Horseshoe Worms
Question: Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and, in some cases, done what?
Answer: Destroyed entire towns.
Question: On a worldwide scale, which month is the least active for tsunamis?
Answer: May, while September is the most active month.

Question: What 360-degree seeing shark group has cephalofoil as the formal term for their distinctly shaped noggins?
Answer: Hammerhead.
Question: The low-lying coral reefs of the South Pacific have built up on what type of undersea formations?
Answer: Basaltic lava flows under the ocean’s surface.
Question: “Cetology” is the title of the 32nd chapter in which lengthy American novel that literally studies whales?
Answer: Moby Dick.
Question: Which animal holds the title of being the loudest on earth?
Answer: Sperm Whale
Question: While human beings have lungs, what do fish have?
Answer: Gills.
Question: How can the Pacific Ocean be further subdivided by the equator?
Answer: It can be divided into the Northern (North Pacific) and Southern (South Pacific) portions.
Question: What does the name “Mar Pacífico,” given by Magellan, mean in both Portuguese and Spanish?
Answer: “Peaceful sea,”
Question: In a cheesy 1978 parody movie set in the San Diego County city of Oceanside, what vegetable (or maybe fruit?) is filled in the blank in the title “Attack of the Killer _“?
Answer: Tomatoes.
Question: What is the collective term for a large group of stinging, tentacled sea creatures?
Answer: Jellyfish.
Question: What type of animal is referred to as “loggerhead” due to its prominent, large head?
Answer: Turtle

Question: In “Finding Nemo,” what is the circus-related name of the type of anemone-dwelling fish that Nemo and his dad Marlin are?
Answer: Clownfish
Question: What Arctic whale has a spiral tusk that some scientists believe helps it attract mates?
Answer: Narwhal.
Question: Lox is a filet of the brined version of a specific type of sea critter. What type of fish is it?
Answer: Salmon
Question: In which month are all the tropical cyclone basins active?
Answer: November
Question: Despite its consolatory name, which species of lethargic shark is responsible for the fourth most human bites on record?
Answer: Nurse Shark
Question: The Pacific straddles the 180th meridian, and the West Pacific (or western Pacific, near Asia) is in which hemisphere?
Answer: The Eastern Hemisphere.
Question: Which type of animal famously caused the death of Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin?
Answer: Stingray.
Question: Why did Magellan name it Mar del Sur (literally, “Sea of the South” or “South Sea”)?
Answer: Because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific.
Question: What is the common four-letter word used for several kinds of bivalve mollusks, typically used when the mollusk is edible?
Answer: Clam.
Question: What term refers to small organisms, including both plants and animals, that are unable to move against ocean currents?
Answer: Plankton.

Question: What is the name of the largest species of shark, reaching lengths as large as 60 feet, which is named after another large sea-dweller?
Answer: Whale Shark
Question: Which species of seal, known as Hydrurga leptonyx, gets its catlike name from the spotted pattern along its back?
Answer: Leopard Seal.
Question: What is the term used for a second type of island formed of coral, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands?
Answer: The uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands.
Question: This squid gets its name not because it has a taste for blood, but from the dark skin on its arms that makes it look like it’s wearing a Dracula-esque cape. What is it called?
Answer: Vampire Squid
Question: In which ocean are the centers of both the Southern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere located?
Answer: In The Pacific Ocean.
Question: The Pacific Ocean’s current name was coined by whom?
Answer: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan
Question: What toothed whale, belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, has a falsely incriminating name? Also known as orcas, they have black bodies with white undersides and patches near the eye.
Answer: Killer Whale.
Question: The lands around the Pacific Rim are known for being full of what?
Answer: Volcanoes and the lands are often affected by earthquakes.
Question: What “T” word is used to describe a wave generated by an undersea earthquake?
Answer: Tsunami.
Question: Cephalofoil is the formal term for the distinctly shaped noggins of what group of sharks, known for their 360-degree vision?
Answer: Hammerhead.

Question: The Pacific Ocean is home to the most of “what” in the world?
Answer: Islands.
Question: What 2013 documentary, also the nickname of a “Game of Thrones” character, exposes the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity, using SeaWorld’s orca, Tilikum, as an example?
Answer: Blackfish.
Question: Sharing its name with a piece of sporting equipment, which fish is notable for the bioluminescent fishing rod-like appendage it uses to lure prey?
Answer: Football fish.
Question: Islands in the Pacific Ocean fall into four basic types. What are they?
Answer: Continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms.
Question: How large is the Pacific Ocean in terms of square miles?
Answer: 63,800,000 square miles
Question: The Pacific Ocean separates which continents?
Answer: Asia and Australia from the Americas.
Question: How many oceans are there on Earth?
Answer: There are 5 oceans.
Question: What is the largest mammal that lives in the ocean?
Answer: The Blue Whale.
Question: Which ocean is both the largest and deepest on Earth?
Answer: The Pacific Ocean.
Question: Why did Magellan name the ocean “Pacífico” (or “Pacific,” meaning “peaceful”)?
Answer: Because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters.

Question: Can you name the five oceans on Earth?
Answer: The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Southern Ocean.
Question: In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan embarked on a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands and accomplished what significant achievement while sailing the Pacific from East to West?
Answer: The first world circumnavigation.
Question: Approximately what fraction of the Earth’s surface is covered by the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: One-third.
Question: The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be categorized into what three main groups?
Answer: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.
Question: Due to its vast size, the Pacific Ocean covers one-third of the Earth’s surface area, surpassing the combined area of what geographical feature?
Answer: All Earth’s land area combined.
Question: What is the approximate total water volume of the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: The Pacific Ocean has a water volume of roughly 710,000,000 km³ (170,000,000 cu mi).
Question: Callinectes sapidus, a food crab native to the western Atlantic Ocean, is easily identified by what color on its shell?
Answer: Blue Crab
Question: Which unusual shark gets its name, shared with a common kitchen item, due to the circular “plug” bites it takes out of its prey?
Answer: Cookiecutter Shark
Question: Known for their intelligence and friendliness to human beings, which marine creature is considered highly intelligent?
Answer: Dolphin.
Question: The High Islands are formed from volcanic activity, and many of them contain what specific feature?
Answer: Active volcanos.

Question: What sea creature possesses the largest eyes of any animal on Earth, nearly 11 inches across, with lenses the size of oranges?
Answer: Squid.
Question: To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific Ocean with which other ocean?
Answer: The Arctic Ocean.
Question: The archaic term “Morse” refers to which large marine mammals?
Answer: Walrus.
Question: Worldwide, when does tropical cyclone activity typically peak?
Answer: Late Summer.
Question: What is the rainforest under the sea where 25% of marine species live?
Answer: Coral reefs.
Question: What is the name of the fish that belongs to the Genus Pterophyllum and is a species of colorful freshwater fish found in basins in South America?
Answer: Angel Fish
Question: In Minnesota, a commonly-sought fish is the “Muskellunge,” which is often deemed the “ugly” variety of what family of fish? This family is distinguished by its torpedo-like form and sharp teeth.
Answer: Pike.
Question: What is the average depth of the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: 13,000 feet