July 4, 2021 by Luis F. Dominguez Spanish for Kids 0 comments

Exploring Ocean Animals (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)

Learning about the ocean in Spanish makes for a super interesting lesson for your children or students.

Kids love the ocean and the animals that populate it, so it makes sense to introduce them to the amazing marine world, while also introducing them to new Spanish vocabulary.

Read this lesson for fascinating information about the five oceans on Earth (yes, there are five now), vocabulary about the ocean in Spanish, and a quick grammar exercise with comparative adjectives. We’ll also explore the three ocean zones and the animals that live in each one. Finally, I added a colorful and entertaining activity to maintain your kids’ interest in the topic and have some fun with them.

Oceans of the World

The ocean is an amazing and mysterious world that catches the kids’ attention like few other things. In my experience as a teacher, the ocean is right up there with dinosaurs and outer space as the most exciting topics for children.

Use this guide to introduce your kids or students to this marvelous world and to teach them about the ocean in Spanish and the spectacular diversity of animals that live there.

Although, broadly speaking, there’s only one global ocean on our planet, for practical purposes scientists have divided it into different oceans to make it easier to study and refer to them.

For a long time, scientists recognized 4 oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. However, since June 8, 2000, which coincides with World Oceans Day, National Geographic announced a fifth ocean: the Southern Ocean.

1. Atlantic Ocean

El Océano Atlántico (the Atlantic Ocean) is the second largest ocean on Earth, covering almost one-fifth of the entire global ocean. The North Atlantic separates North America from Europe, while the South Atlantic separates Central and South America from Africa.

Overall, the Atlantic Ocean includes six seas:

El Mar Mediterráneo – Mediterranean Sea
El Mar Negro – Black Sea
El Mar del Norte – North Sea
El Mar Báltico – Baltic Sea
El Mar de Noruega-Groenlandia – Norwegian-Greenland Sea
El Mar Caribe – Caribbean Sea

Bonus Question!

What’s the difference between an ocean and a sea? (Find the answer at the end of this lesson.)

2. Pacific Ocean

El Océano Pacífico (the Pacific Ocean) was discovered by the Spanish conquistador Vasco de Balboa in 1513, but named by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. Magellan was the first European to navigate its waters, which at first sight looked quite “peaceful” or pacíficas in Spanish.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world, and it covers one-third of the Earth’s surface. It separates Asia and Oceania from the Americas, and includes a lot of seas and islands.

Perhaps the most unique detail about this ocean is that it also hosts the deepest spot on the ocean: the Mariana Trench, which is 10,911 meters below sea level!

3. Indian Ocean

El Océano Índico (the Indian Ocean) was named after the Indian subcontinent that it surrounds. It’s the third largest ocean in the world, with about 20% of the Earth’s water surface.

Among other features, the Indian Ocean includes the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, which are crucial for international trade, as well as island nations such as Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, Indonesia, and Madagascar.

4. Arctic Ocean

El Océano Ártico (the Arctic Ocean) is home to el Polo Norte (the North Pole), and its waters are usually frozen. However, they’re starting to melt these days due to el calentamiento global (global warming).

If current trends continue, the Arctic Ocean will become fully navigable in the next decade, opening new routes for international trade, but causing a series of undesirable consequences to the Earth in the process.

5. Southern Ocean

El Océano del Sur (the Southern Ocean) is the newest member in the ocean family. It officially became an ocean in 2000 according to the International Hydrographic Organization.

This is the ocean that encircles Antarctica, and the amount of water it carries varies with the Southern Hemisphere seasons. The Antarctic ice pack grows up to seven times during the winter.

Download FREE Activities Related to the Ocean in Spanish!

Type your name and email below to get three Activities Related to the Ocean in Spanish! You will receive: -Flashcards -Ocean-related Grammar Activity -What Kind of Ocean Animal Am I?

Explore more FREE SPANISH LESSONS FOR KIDS! ➡️
Enjoy over 70 unique lessons + free activity packets to download.

Ocean in Spanish: Vocabulary

Now, let me introduce you to some ocean-related words in Spanish that can help you to teach this subject to your children or students.

Spanish	English
el océano	ocean
el mar	sea
la isla	island
el continente	continent
el fondo del océano	ocean floor
el mar abierto	open sea
la corriente marina	marine current
la ola del océano	ocean wave
el agua salada	salt water
la costa	coast
el acantilado	cliff
la marea	tide
la placa continental	continental shelf
la concha de mar	seashell
la línea costera	coastline
el maremoto	tsunami
la boya	buoy
el estuario	estuary
la bahía	bay
el golfo	gulf

Ocean Adjectives

Use the following adjectives to talk about the qualities of the ocean in Spanish:

Spanish	English
profundo	deep
salado	salty
grande	large
pequeño	small
tranquilo	calm
tempestuoso	stormy
hermoso	beautiful
frío	cold
cálido	warm
caliente	hot
biodiverso	biodiverse

Ocean Animals in Spanish by Zone

The animals in the oceans are what really catch kids’ attention. From octopuses, sharks, dolphins, and whales, to all shapes and sizes of colorful fish, ocean animals in Spanish are interesting to students.

The ocean is home to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale. Some of the weirdest creatures alive live in the deepest parts of the ocean, such as the anglerfish which creates its own light to attract its prey.

The oceans are divided into three zones according to the amount of sunlight they receive:

The first zone, the one nearest to the surface, is the euphotic zone, and it receives a lot of sunlight.
After about 230 feet, you get to the twilight zone which still receives sunlight, but not enough to have plants there.
Finally, near the bottom of the ocean, you have the deep sea zone, which receives no light at all and has no plants. It’s extremely cold, so few animals can survive there.

Animals in the Euphotic Zone

The sea life in the euphotic zone is rich and spectacular, creating one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth.

Remember, el pez means “fish” in Spanish. Check out the other sea animals in the euphotic zone:

Spanish	English
el tiburón	shark
la tortuga marina	sea turtle
el coral	coral
la medusa	jellyfish
el zooplancton	zooplankton
el delfín	dolphin
la ballena	whale
la foca marina	ocean seal
la mantarraya	ray
el pez globo	blowfish
el pez payaso	clown fish
el cangrejo	crab
el manatí	manatee
la orca	orca or killer whale
el león marino	sea lion
el pingüino	penguin
el caballito de mar	seahorse
el caracol	snail
el atún	tuna

Explore more FREE SPANISH LESSONS FOR KIDS! ➡️
Enjoy over 70 unique lessons + free activity packets to download.

Animals in the Twilight Zone

The twilight zone, also known as the disphotic zone, lacks plants. This, in turn, limits the amount of animals that live here.

Spanish	English
el pulpo	octopus
el ostión	oyster
el pepino de mar	sea cucumber
la estrella de mar	sea star
el camarón	shrimp
el calamar	squid
la alga	algae
la anémona marina	sea anemone
el cachalote	sperm whale

Animals from the Deep Sea Zone

The deep sea zone, also known as the aphotic zone, is completely dark and extremely cold, which makes life challenging. However, nature always seems to find a way, and a few strange creatures live in the deepest areas of the oceans.

Spanish	English
el rape	anglerfish
el gusano flecha	arrow worm
el pez linterna	lanternfish
el calamar vampiro	vampire squid
el tiburón duende	goblin shark

What Kind of Ocean Animal Am I?

Children love this activity. Download the worksheet above, and ask your kids to identify several of the ocean animals. Once they get them all right, let them have some fun and color the animals on the worksheet.

Explore the Oceans and Learn Spanish

By learning about the oceans and marine life in Spanish, you’re exploring scientific topics that most children like and improving their Spanish vocabulary at the same time. Once you have introduced your kids to these ocean-related words in Spanish, make sure to practice them in interesting conversations about the oceans and the animals in them.

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Luis F. Dominguez

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Luis F. Domínguez is a freelance writer and independent journalist interested in travel, languages, art, books, history, philosophy, politics and sports. He has written for Fodor’s, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Telemundo, and Villa Experience, among other brands of print and digital media in Europe and North America.