If you thought your internet data and international phone calls were transmitted via satellite, you would be wrong. (It's okay, I was, too.)

Nearly all of that data actually travels on submarine cables stretching hundreds of thousands of miles along the ocean floor.

This animation shows just how many stretch from coast to coast to coast, carrying tweets, YouTube videos, phone calls, and banking transactions as they go.

Take a moment to appreciate just how pervasive undersea cables are, how they survive more than 25,000 feet below the water, and ultimately help you access this article on a distant server.