open sea vs open water

open sea

noun
  • That part of the sea out of sight of land. 

  • A sea open to all nations, i.e. not a mare clausum. 

open water

noun
  • An expanse of an ocean, sea, or large lake which is distant from shore and devoid of nearby islands or other obstructions. 

  • In a river, pond, or other small body of water, an area of surface unobstructed by aquatic vegetation, boulders, and the like, adequate for navigation or swimming. 

  • An area of an ocean, sea, lake, or river which is not covered by ice. 

How often have the words open sea and open water occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )