What is Oceanpunk, you ask? (And so did I, to be honest!) As usual, I began by checking @ooorah's own guide to SF Sub-genre Definitions, and found the following:

"An 'Adventure-Friendly World,' which, no matter how 'Technology Marches On,' remains firmly rooted in the cultural and political sensibilities of the age of 'Wooden Ships and Iron Men.' Many works of modern fantasy or speculative fiction are set in a mostly watery world with distant islands connected by trade routes, ships sailing back and forth, and mighty colonial nations vying for rulership of the oceans and seas. May contain Organic Technology, and have a large focus on what happens under the waves as well as over. Fantastic elements based on old sailors' superstitions (mermaids, abandoned derelicts that often aren't so abandoned after all, giant sea monsters) also make a frequent appearance. This may also be a type of 'After the End setting.'"

The 1995 movie "Waterworld" immediately springs to mind, as well as the more recent "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. What else?

After a little investigation, I discovered Oceanpunk has a rich history going right back to the beginning of modern-day science fiction. Surely Jules Verne's classic "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" written in 1870, is a prime example of Oceanpunk? And what about John Wyndham's book "The Kraken Wakes," written in 1953? Aliens land in our oceans and begin adapting Earth to their needs by melting the polar icecaps... an imaginative take on global warming.

More recently, we have "The Sphere" by Michael Crichton (1987) and "The Abyss," written and directed by James Cameron in 1989. If not exactly set in the 'age of wooden ships,' then certainly set in the ocean!

Now, back to Wattpad. If you go by the number of stories on wattpad tagged #oceanpunk (exactly 2, last time I checked) you'd be forgiven for thinking it was one of the most obscure Sci-Fi sub-genres of all time...

However, if you leave off the "punk" and just search under #ocean, you find a much more prolific result (9K). Naturally, not all of these are sci-fi, but perhaps it's time to give some much needed publicity to this neglected tag.

Here's a challenge for you – do you have a story that fits the criteria for #oceanpunk? or, even better, how about writing a new one?