The Arctic，Atlantic, Indian and Pacific are the four oceans we learned about in the geography class. But now we have a new one. On World Oceans Day, which was on June 8, 2021， the US National Geographic Society announced it would recognize the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, bringing the global total to five.
Unlike the Arctic，Atlantic ，Indian and Pacific Oceans, which are defined by the continents that bound them, the Southern Ocean is instead characterized by the currents circling Antarctica. According to National Geographic，the Southern Ocean includes most of the waters surrounding Antarctica out to 60 degrees south latitude.
“Surrounded by the swift currents， it is the only ocean to touch three other oceans and to completely embrace a continent rather than being embraced by them," Sylvia Earle, US marine biologist and oceanographer (海洋学家)，told The Daily Mail.
“Anyone who has been there will struggle to explain what's so amazing about it, but they'll all agree that the glaciers are bluer, the air colder, the mountains more spectacular (壮观的) and the landscapes more appealing than anywhere else they can go," Seth Sykora-Bodie, a marine scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration，told National Geographic.
Due to the ecologically unique environment of the Southern Ocean, it's home to thousands of rare species. The ocean also has wider ecological effects. National Geographic hopes their revised maps will bring public awareness to the region, thereby encouraging the Southern Ocean conservation.
“We think it's really important from an educational standpoint, as well as from a map-labeling standpoint, to bring attention to the Southern Ocean as a fifth ocean." Alex Tait，National Geographic Society geographer, told The Post. “ So when students learn about it, they learn it's an interconnected ocean，and there are these regions called oceans that are really important."