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The Arctic Ocean INTRODUCTION Compared to the other oceans presented in this volume, the Arctic is the Earth’s smallest ocean at about 14 million square kilo­meters (or 5.4 million square miles). It is located in the Northern Hemi­sphere and is almost entirely sur- rounded by the landmasses of Eurasia, Greenland (the Earth’s largest island), and North Amer­i­ca. The cold temperatures emanating from ­ these landmasses find the Arctic covered with ­either seasonal or permanent sea ice, which in turn has influenced the maritime history of this ocean. The term “Arctic” originally derives from the Greek arktikos, which refers to the most prominent northern constellation of the ­ Great Bear (Ursua Major). Both land and ocean areas con- tained in the Arctic are contested. The most obvious definition holds all the area above the Arctic Circle (approximately 66°N) as part of the Arctic. An alterna- tive definition is based on temperature and includes all that area where the aver- age temperature does not exceed 10°C (50°F) during the hottest month of July. BOTANICAL AND ZOOLOGICAL OVERVIEW The Arctic Ocean is home to many species of fauna and flora, most of which have adapted to the extreme conditions of the region. However, to understand the Arctic Ocean’s role in their survival, the region must first be defined. The University of Alaska has classified the Arctic Ocean based on the surrounding flora. Keeping an outlined area in mind, it must be noted that the species that survive deal with an average temperature below 10 to 12°C during the hottest month of the year. It is not the ocean size or landmass that ­ matters ­here, but rather the climate that has allowed for the diverse species to thrive. ­ There are three subsections of fauna in the Arctic. They are classified into vascular plants, bryophytes, and algae. The vascular plants and bryophytes (non- vascular plants including mosses, among ­others) are the fundamental compo- nent of terrestrial vegetation, whereas the algae are limited to the freshwater and marine ecosystems. As far as vascular plants are concerned, ­there are only a limited number of species. Approximately 2,200 vascular plant species and subspecies exist in the Arctic. That is roughly 0.85 ­ percent of the Earth’s total known vascular spe- cies. The majority of the species contained within the Arctic domain have a