40 Ocean Trivia Questions and Answers
Ocean trivia about the seas themselves and the things that live in them: which ocean is which, islands and coastlines, whales, dolphins, coral and tides. It mixes geography with marine life, so it suits a general quiz. Each question has its answer underneath.
There are 40 questions on this page. They are free to use for quiz nights, classrooms and pub quizzes, and each one links to its own page.
Related lists: Capital Cities trivia questions, US States trivia questions, Space trivia questions, Easy trivia questions.
1.What country is located on both the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean?
Answer: SOUTH AFRICA
Open this question2.This 320-island nation of the southwest Pacific Ocean with capital Suva was discovered in 1643 by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, annexed by Great Britain in 1874, and became independent in 1970. What country is it?
Answer: FIJI
Open this question3.These animals reach lengths of up to 7 feet, have about 100 teeth, emit sounds when moving to help them navigate, and reach travelling speeds of about 35 miles per hour. What kind of animals are they?
Answer: DOLPHINS
Open this question4.What cold, rocky islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles north of Scotland are politically related to Denmark, even though their name sounds Egyptian?
Answer: FAROE ISLANDS
Open this question5.In the Atlantic or East Pacific Oceans they are called hurricanes. What are they called in a. The western Pacific Ocean? b. The Indian Ocean?
Answer: a. TYPHOONS b.CYCLONE
Open this question6.If mountains were measured from their base rather from sea level, this would be the world's tallest, since its base is on the ocean floor. Which mountain is this?
Answer: MAUNA KEA 4,208 m 13,796 ft plus distance to bottom of sea from which it springs, rather than from a highland plateau like Mt. Everest
Open this question7.Which island in the Caribbean Sea lies closest to South America?
Answer: TRINIDAD
Open this question8.What is the only country of Central America which has no contact with the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: BELIZE
Open this question9.In 1955, the US launched the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. This ship was named after a sea animal with a spiral shell. What was the name of this ship?
Answer: NAUTILUS
Open this question10.Which of the world's oceans is named after a country?
Answer: INDIAN
Open this question11.What is coral made from?
Answer: COMBINED SKELETONS OF TINY CREATURES
Open this question12.In which body of water would you find the island group French Polynesia, and what is the principal island of that group?
Answer: SOUTH PACIFIC / TAHITI
Open this question13.Which Spanish explorer, in 1513, was the first European to discover the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA , paving the way for Spanish exploration and settlement of South America
Open this question14.Which two countries in South America border neither the Atlantic nor the Pacific Ocean?
Answer: PARAGUAY / BOLIVIA
Open this question15.The largest mammal that ever lived weighs more than 100 tons. What kind of animal is this?
Answer: BLUE WHALE
Open this question16.The name of what body of water means peaceful or tranquil?
Answer: PACIFIC OCEAN
Open this question17.Most penguins live in the southernmost lands on earth, such as Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, and mostly in cold climates, but some penguins can also be found on which islands in the Pacific Ocean near the equator?
Answer: GALAPAGOS
Open this question18.Of all the countries which border the Mediterranean Sea, which has the largest area?
Answer: ALGERIA
Open this question19.April 15, 1912, what great tragedy occurred in icy Atlantic waters off Newfoundland, taking 1500 lives?
Answer: SINKING OF THE TITANIC
Open this question20.When water passes through the gills of fish, the fish get what?
Answer: OXYGEN
Open this question21.What is the world's smallest ocean ?
Answer: ARCTIC OCEAN
Open this question22.How many high tides do seashores have in a week?
Answer: 14 / two per day caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and Sun and the opposite force of centrifugal motion.
Open this question23.According to the United Nations and international law, the territorial waters of most countries extend how many miles out to sea from their shorelines?
Answer: 12 MILES
Open this question24.One of the most expensive types of animal fur comes from the slowest swimming marine mammal. What animal is this?
Answer: SEA OTTER
Open this question25.What is the name of the deepest known point of the Earth's seabed, in the Mariana Trench?
Answer: The Challenger Deep
Open this question26.Which Portuguese explorer gave the Pacific Ocean its name?
Answer: Ferdinand Magellan
Open this question27.The Great Barrier Reef lies off the coast of which Australian state?
Answer: Queensland
Open this question28.Which warm Atlantic current begins in the Gulf of Mexico and flows up the eastern coast of the United States?
Answer: The Gulf Stream
Open this question29.Which bathyscaphe carried Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in 1960?
Answer: Trieste
Open this question30.Which French naval officer and film-maker co-invented the Aqua-Lung and explored the seas aboard the ship Calypso?
Answer: Jacques Cousteau
Open this question31.About what percentage of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean?
Answer: About 71 percent
Open this question32.The gravitational pull of which body is the main cause of the ocean tides?
Answer: The Moon
Open this question33.Which canal, opened in 1869, links the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea?
Answer: The Suez Canal
Open this question34.Which canal, opened in 1914, links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?
Answer: The Panama Canal
Open this question35.Which strait connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea?
Answer: The Strait of Gibraltar
Open this question36.The word "tsunami" comes from which language, in which it means "harbor wave"?
Answer: Japanese
Open this question37.Which British research ship's voyage of 1872 to 1876 laid the foundations of oceanography?
Answer: HMS Challenger
Open this question38.What name is given to the underwater mountain range that runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
Answer: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Open this question39.Which sea, lying between Europe, Africa and Asia, takes its name from Latin words meaning "in the middle of the land"?
Answer: The Mediterranean Sea
Open this question40.Which ocean current flows clockwise, from west to east, around Antarctica?
Answer: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current
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