10 Prehistoric Ocean Events Too Terrifying for History Books

10 Prehistoric Ocean Events Too Terrifying for History Books Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, the ocean stopped being a place where things lived. Not because an asteroid struck. Not because a volcano buried it in ash. The sea turned on itself, manufacturing a poison so complete and so silent that ninety-six percent of every species swimming, crawling, or drifting through it simply ceased to exist. Geologists call it the Great Dying. The name is not an exaggeration.