Few things are more mesmerizing than the ocean. It covers 71 percent of the Earth, it teems with strange and exotic creatures of every size and kingdom, it provides food and enables transportation and helps control our climate. Now there’s a comprehensive web site for all things oceanic: the World Ocean Observatory.

A project of the Open Space Institute, an organization that protects natural spaces, the World Ocean Observatory combines information on the physical oceans, from the UN Atlas of the Oceans, the NOAA Ocean Explorer, and other massive clearinghouses of facts and figures on the world’s vast saltwater wildernesses. There’s also a catalog of news stories about the oceans, and an Ocean Classroom area that offers links to zillions of web sites with educational tools about everything from marine biology to cultural traditions to the ocean’s energy cycles. All that’s missing is a fabulous beach vacation….

[via Environmental News Network]

Photo credit: World Ocean Observatory