Publication - 18 November, 2005
The Southern Ocean is the world’s ‘newest’ ocean and the fourth largest, having only been formally named and identified in 2000. It is also the only ocean which has a boundary marked by a line of latitude rather than land. Completely encircling Antarctica, the strongest winds on Earth blow across its waters. It is also has the world largest ocean current – the Antarctica Circumpolar current, carrying more than a hundred times as much water as all the rivers of the world combined. The Southern Ocean is protected by a number of international treaties; a ban on commercial whaling under the International Whaling Commission, a limit to sealing under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctica Seals, and regulations on fishing under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. However, these conventions are poorly policed and routinely breached.