A deep-blue arm of the Mediterranean scattered with thousands of Greek islands and steeped in ancient history.
Area
214,000 km²
Ocean basin
Atlantic
Location
The island-strewn cradle of Western civilisation
Average depth
about 350 m
Maximum depth
about 3,540 m
Salinity
~37–39 ppt
Temperature
Mild, 14–25°C
Region
Between Greece & Turkey
About the Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea lies between Greece and Turkey, a branch of the Mediterranean dotted with over 2,000 islands from the Cyclades to the Dodecanese. Warm, clear and very salty, it was the cradle of the Minoan and Greek civilisations. Beneath its blue surface live octopuses, sea turtles and ancient seagrass meadows.
Did you know?
It holds more than 2,000 islands — the sea where the myths of ancient Greece, and much of Western civilisation, were born.
Highlights
- Scattered with 2,000+ islands
- Cradle of ancient Greek civilisation
- Clear, very salty Mediterranean water
Photo gallery
Life in the Aegean Sea
Creatures, seabirds and marine plants — including some of the rarest and strangest — that live in these waters.
Creatures of the deep
Ocean sunfish (mola mola)
The heaviest bony fish alive, basking flat on its side at the sunlit surface.
Moray eel
A reef ambush predator with a hidden second set of jaws in its throat to drag prey down.
Cuttlefish
A master of disguise with W-shaped pupils that flashes rippling colour across its skin.
Nudibranch (sea slug)
Dazzlingly coloured sea slugs that steal stings — and even sunlight — from the food they eat.
Seabirds
Northern gannet
A big white seabird that folds its wings and dives like an arrow at 100 km/h.
Great cormorant
An expert diving seabird that perches with wings spread wide to dry its feathers.
Marine plants & algae
Neptune seagrass (Posidonia)
Forms ancient Mediterranean meadows — one clone may be 100,000 years old.
Coralline algae
Stony pink algae that cement coral reefs together and help them grow.
Surface & deep in the Aegean Sea
The sea is warm where the Sun reaches it and cold far below. Flip between the sunlit surface and the deep water to feel the difference — these are typical figures for a sea.
Sunlit surface
22°C
typical surface temperature
Seas warm strongly at the surface in summer, but their deeper water stays cold and still — the sunlight simply never reaches it.
Recorded range for the Aegean Sea: Mild, 14–25°C