Ocean · Puzzle #5 · Sunday, October 4

Ocean: the answers

Four questions, each with one true number. Here they are with their answers, how to reason each one out, and where the number comes from. Play today's Ocean.

1. 1. More than 55,000 people came to the 2019 Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland. How many pounds of lobster did they eat?

   The answer: 19,400 pounds. About 1,300 volunteers ran the five-day festival.

   1. 55kpeople
   2. ×0.5pound of lobster each

   ≈27.5kpounds

   Source: Maine Lobster Festival, That's a Wrap: Highlights from the 2019 Maine Lobster Festival

2. 2. How many Americans went canoeing in 2025?

   

   The answer: about 10.2 million. Altogether more than 34 million Americans paddled something in 2025.

   1. 330Mpeople in the US
   2. ÷30people for every one who paddled a canoe this year

   ≈11Mpeople

   Source: Outdoor Industry Association, 2026 Paddlesports Report

3. 3. How many visitors does the Monterey Bay Aquarium get in an average year?

   

   The answer: about 1.8 million. It hit 2.1 million visitors in 2015, and nearly 60 million had come through by 2016.

   1. 5,000visitors on an average day
   2. ×365days a year

   ≈1.82Mvisitors

   Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Visitor FAQs

4. 4. Marina del Rey, near Los Angeles, covers 807 acres, about half of it water. How many boat slips does it have?

   

   The answer is hidden while this question is still in play: it comes round again within 14 days.

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