What Are Ocean Zones?

To the naked eye, our oceans look like a huge, endless expanse of water. In actuality, they’re divided into zones and areas, similar to how land is segmented into countries and states. From your country’s shores to the lawless high seas, see how the vast global ocean is made up of smaller zones.

Cartoonist Jim Toomey—whose daily comic strip, Sherman’s Lagoon, is syndicated in more than 250 newspapers in the United States—has joined forces with The Pew Charitable Trusts to illustrate "ocean zones" and other terms associated with our oceans.

Watch the full ocean terms video series.