Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters.

Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided. Others include biological, chemical and geological oceanographies.

The pioneering oceanographer Matthew Maury said in 1855 "Our planet is invested with two great oceans; one visible, the other invisible; one underfoot, the other overhead; one entirely envelopes it, the other covers about two thirds of its surface." The fundamental role of the oceans in shaping Earth is acknowledged by ecologists, geologists, meteorologists, climatologists, geographers and others interested in the physical world. An Earth without oceans would truly be unrecognizable.

Roughly 97% of the planet's water is in its oceans, and the oceans are the source of the vast majority of water vapor that condenses in the atmosphere and falls as rain or snow on the continents. The tremendous heat capacity of the oceans moderates the planet's climate, and its absorption of various gases affects the composition of the atmosphere. The ocean's influence extends even to the composition of volcanic rocks through seafloor metamorphism, as well as to that of volcanic gases and magmas created at subduction zones.

Paul Spence is a Canadian actor, author and musician. Born 29 January, 1976 in Calgary, Alberta, Paul is best known for his portrayal of headbanger Dean Murdoch in the 2001 mockumentary hit FUBAR: The Movie, which he co-wrote with friends David Lawrence and Michael Dowse.

The characters and situations depicted in FUBAR were inspired by encounters Dave and Paul experienced while working as labourers on a pipeline crew in Northern British Columbia. Returning to Calgary, both were regular actors at the Loose Moose Theatre company, who specialized in improvisational stage shows and theatresports. It was there that they created the characters Dean and Terry as a satire of types they met while working up North. In 2000, along with Dowse, the three gathered up their friends and meagre resources and shot FUBAR on a tiny budget. The film wound up a success beyond the expectations of any, and led to a DVD, soundtrack album, tour, and later, a book, authored by Lawrence and Spence.

In 2002, Spence returned to Montreal, where he lived between 1995 and 2000, performing in bands such as The Infernos and Lyle Sheraton and the Daylight Lovers. Between 2003 and 2008, he performed in the band CPC Gangbangs. In 2004, he appeared in the Micheal Dowse-directed film "It's All Gone Pete Tong".

Don Chambers is author and artist for the Golden Pencil award-winning newspaper comic strip Mannequins. Mannequins was first published in the Arthur Graphic-Clarion, Arthur, Illinois, in 1996. Mannequins was the first newspaper comic strip to feature computer-generated and physical 3D characters along with actual photographic images in the background of the comic panels. Chambers' artwork and comics have been featured in dozens of magazines, including Farm Journal, Street Rodder and Car Craft. His animations and graphics have been used in four regional Emmy Award winning documentaries for PBS.

Frank Muller (May 5, 1951 – June 4, 2008) was a stage and television actor, but was most famous as an audiobook narrator.

Muller was born in The Netherlands, the eldest of five children. His family emigrated to the United States when he was five.

Muller was a classically trained actor who began his career working on stage and doing commercials. He spent many years on the New York stage, where he became a company member of the Riverside Shakespeare Company, for which he played the title role in King Henry V, Edmund the Bastard in The History of King Lear, and the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as performing with the Roundabout Theater Company and the New York Shakespeare Festival among others. He also played supporting roles on television in shows like Law And Order, Life Goes On, Harry and the Hendersons, and All My Children.

It is as an audiobook narrator, however, that he was most famous. In 1979, Henry Trentman founded Recorded Books and hired Muller as a narrator. The company began by publishing audiobook recordings of public domain works such as Call of the Wild and A Tale of Two Cities but later expanded into copyrighted works as audiobooks began to grow in popularity. Muller soon became the narrator of choice for such authors as Stephen King, John le Carré, John Grisham, Elmore Leonard and many others. Muller won the 2003 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator for his reading of Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues.