There is something magical about the ocean. Maybe it is the awesome power it represents. For some it is the calming sounds of the surf that wash all our worries away. Many people feel a deep connection to the ocean and the beach. Here at Williamson Realty Vacations we certainly understand that feeling. If you are a true beach lover, you’ll love the ten fun facts about the Ocean we love so much.

Do you feel like you can breathe a little easier when you get to the beach? Well there is a good reason for that. Did you know that the Oceans produce 70 percent of the oxygen supply in the atmosphere? The marine plants releasing oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis cause this. One little phytoplankton, Prochlorococcus, is estimated to be solely responsible for one in every five breaths a human will take. So literally breathe easy when you get to Ocean Isle Beach!

Some of us laugh when we hear about communities banning plastic bags or straws, but consider this; seven million tons of plastic wind up in the ocean each year! Sadly, the ocean’s fish consume a lot of this. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, once estimated the fish of the Northern Pacific swallow between 12,000 and 24,000 tons every year.

The famous explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, crossed the Atlantic beginning in 1519. He eventually found his way to another body of water. What he didn’t realize was he had stumbled upon the largest ocean on the planet, the Pacific. He named it such for its peaceful waters. The Pacific covers 59 million square miles.

The Denmark Strait is a waterfall below the Atlantic Ocean that, in terms of water volume, is the equivalent of 2000 of the world’s most notable waterfalls! The water cascades an incredible 11,500 feet down. How does this happen? The water on the eastern side of the strait is colder and more dense than the warm water coming from the west. When the two waters mix, the colder supply sinks, creating a waterfall.

Sure the coast of North Carolina is full of shipwrecks, but if you want to find the real gold think of this. There is an estimated twenty million tons of gold in the ocean. Yup, you are literally swimming in gold! The problem is, it is diluted and measured in parts per trillion! One liter of seawater can net you a 13-billionth of a gram. We can’t help you find gold but we can certainly help you find your perfect Ocean Isle Beach vacation.

Did you know that 80 percent of the world’s volcanic eruptions go unnoticed? Why? Because they are erupting underwater. There are an estimated one million volcanoes—some extinct and some very active—in the oceans today. These can generate water temperatures in excess of 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet, despite these temperatures, scientist believe there are loads of undiscovered species in these areas of the ocean.

What’s actually happening is the cavity in the seashell is allowing sound to vibrate. This is basically a resonator. When you hold the shell up to your ear, what you are actually hearing is the ambient noise that you’ve amplified with the shell. This noise typically sounds a lot like the whooshing sound of the air or the ocean waves.

The Mariana Trench is considered to be the deepest part of the world’s oceans. Inside of the Trench is a valley known as Challenger Deep that extends roughly seven miles (36,070 feet) below the surface. To give you an idea how deep that is, Mount Everest is a paltry 29,029 feet in comparison. No man has ever gone this deep with the current record set at 35,797.

One of the most indelible features of the oceans is the deep blue waters that are continually churning, rolling, and coming in waves. The color is the result of the suns red and orange wavelengths being absorbed by the surface and its blue wavelengths penetrating deeper, giving way to a blue tint. And because those wavelengths can travel further down, the ocean will tend to appear more blue the lower you go. Why isn’t water in a glass blue when you’re sitting outdoors? There aren’t enough molecules to absorb the light.

You think the back of your television is a tangled mess of cables? It’s a good thing you can’t see the bottom of the ocean. The ocean has thousands of miles of submerged cables that keep us online and communicating with each other. So when you are binging on Netflix next weekend just think of all that data likely flying across the ocean floor.

Now is the time to book your Ocean Isle Beach vacation. It is only July and there is plenty of time to find that perfect vacation home for a late summer beach vacation. Late summer is one of the best times of the year to visit Ocean Isle Beach. The water temperatures are amazing, and we have lots of great deals on vacation homes and condos that make this time of year easy on the budget.