The Sargasso Sea (/sɑːrˈɡæsoʊ/) is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its characteristic brown Sargassum seaweed and often calm blue water.
The "doldrums" is a popular nautical term that refers to the belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters. This NASA satellite image shows the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, known to sailors around the world as the doldrums.
The name Pacific is a version of pacify or peaceful. It was named by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 as he sailed through a calm patch of water on the ocean.
Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters.
The Southern Ocean (surrounding Antarctica), often called the Austral or even the Antarctic Ocean, is by far the roughest and though I have been aboard several passages I never saw it very calm.
The Irminger Sea is situated south of the Denmark Strait which separates Iceland from the east coast of Greenland by 250 miles of rough water. It is thought to be the windiest stretch of salt water on the globe and one of the stormiest places in the world.
For most of Magellan's voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical cyclones ( typhoons, the equivalent of Atlantic hurricanes), batter the islands of the Pacific.
Assuming you're in warm waters and wearing a wetsuit and life vest, you could potentially survive for as many as three to five days, at which point you'll most likely succumb to dehydration. That is, unless a shark gets you first.
We'll also provide a sample circumnavigation itinerary that targets the best Pacific weather. The best time to sail the Pacific from the U.S. West Coast is during the summer months when conditions are calm, and the weather is warm.
The Pacific coast has higher waves and stronger winds than the Atlantic.
1. The Maldives. The Maldives, located in the Indian Ocean, have around 1,190 islands and sandbanks. A lagoon with crystal clear water encircles all the islands, which are protected by a reef structure that is home to an array of underwater life.
The waters of the Pacific Ocean comprise the world's largest heat reservoir, by far, and it is the warmest ocean, overall, of the world's five oceans. (The other oceans are the Arctic, Antarctic and Indian Oceans.)
Lapland Sea is the sweetest sea on earth because it has several fresh water rivers flowing in and it is located in the last tip of the second largest inland sea in the World- Baltic Sea. As a result, the underwater nature in the archipelago is a unique mixture of freshwater and marine species.
The Southern Ocean is not only far-off, but also unambiguously the stormiest region of the planet. Of the sectors of the Southern Ocean, the South Pacific is the most remote — there aren't even islands. It is just this vast stretch of ocean, about 10,000 kilometers between Chile and Australia.
The Tasman Sea (Named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman) between Australia and New Zealand can be very choppy indeed and has become infamous for its rough seas.
Issues: Ocean crossings always encounter the roughest waters because there are no nearby landmasses to provide shelter. Avoid: The winter months are the most intense, with transatlantic cruises hitting very rough seas from November through February and Pacific cruises from February through April.
For swimmers, the water is safest during a slack tide, during which the water moves very little. A slack tide happens in the hour preceding or following a high or low tide. Swimmers will also enjoy waves with shorter intervals, which are calmer and less dangerous.
During his 73-day, 3,716-mile (5,980 km; 3,229 nmi) journey, Lecomte was accompanied by a 40-foot (12 m) sailboat that had an electromagnetic field for 25 ft (7.6 m) to ward off sharks. He was accompanied by a crew of three aboard the sailboat, where he could rest and eat between each swimming period.
In the Northern Gulf of Mexico, anthropogenic nutrients delivered by the Mississippi River annually produce a dead zone as big as the state of New Jersey. These zones also occur naturally in the open ocean, with the largest found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Examples of dangers are heatstroke, sunstroke, exposure to cold and hypothermia. Effects of seasickness are also a danger and it can lead to a failure to maintain body fluid correctly, causing dehydration. Other hazards are drinking seawater, fire or oil on water and sharks.
All of us own the oceans, and yet none of us do. It's a conundrum. For centuries, beginning with the Age of Exploration when ships were developed that could convey humans across the globe, the governments that represent people like you, the oceans' owner, agreed that no one owned the oceans.
The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep.
The cleanest ocean is generally considered to be the Arctic Ocean, which is the smallest of the world's five oceans. The Arctic Ocean is almost entirely surrounded by Eurasia and North America, making it the most isolated body of water on Earth.
From the tip of the South American continent to the northernmost shores of Antarctica: here's where you'll find the reputed roughest sea-passage in the world. The Drake Passage is the stuff of legends, and crossing it is an experience some passengers on Antarctica cruises look forward to the most.
The Pacific Ocean generates the greatest number of tropical storms and cyclones. The most powerful storms, sometimes called super typhoons, occur in the western Pacific. The Indian Ocean is second in the total number of storms, and the Atlantic Ocean ranks third.