4.543 billion years. That’s how old the earth is. It has certainly been a while. The number “1 billion” is almost incomprehensible. A million and a billion may seem similar, but 1 million seconds is 11 days and 1 billion seconds is 31 years. After all this time, why can’t anyone answer the simple question; is the ocean a soup?

   This has been an argument on the internet for years. Wikipedia states that soup is, “a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water”. The criteria for soup is straightforward: Liquid, Meat, and Veggies. With that definition in mind, does the ocean have these components?

   First, there is the liquid aspect of soup. The ocean is full of water, which can be the basis of many different soups. Also, soups are usually made with broth, which is just the product of cooked meats and bones. In the ocean, there are underwater volcanos that exceed boiling temperatures. And if fish are in the ocean, which have bones and are a type of meat, the ocean may technically consist of broth.

   Second, the easiest component to prove is the meat. In no definition of soup does it specify that the meat in the broth has to be dead. So, that is the meat aspect. The ocean consists of meat.

   Lastly, is the vegetables. In the ocean, there are many different varieties of seaweed, including seaweed that we eat. In different cultures and food varieties, seaweed is consumed. Think of sushi or onigiri.

   To conclude, the final verdict is that the ocean is by definition a soup. Many will disagree because this particular soup is not conventional, but that doesn’t take away from the facts presented.