Is there a sea without any land border? Although many people do not know, there is such a sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We will tell you the unknowns of the Sargasso Sea, which has a fertile ecosystem that is home to fish, sea turtles, birds, mammals and many more.
Today we will talk about the Sargasso Sea, which is located in the middle of the ocean and takes its name from the freely floating algae on its surface.
Where is the Sargasso Sea located and what are its dimensions?
The Sargasso Sea is an ocean current circle in the Atlantic Ocean. This sea is surrounded by the Gulf Stream to the west, the Canary Current to the east, the North Atlantic Current to the north, and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current to the south.
Although it does not have a land border, this sea has an extremely large surface area. The Sargasso Sea has a width of 1100 km and a length of 3200 km. It is also known that its depth varies between 1500 meters and 7000 meters.
To better understand these numbers, let’s look at the area of the Aegean Sea, located in the west of our country. The length of the Aegean Sea is 670 kilometers and its width is 390 kilometers. In addition, the deepest part of the Aegean Sea, which has an average depth of 1500 meters, is 3639 meters. If we look at this comparison, we see that the Sargasso Sea is quite large.
What makes the Sargasso Sea special?
What makes the Sargasso Sea most special is the sargossum seaweed floating on the surface. Not a threat to shipping vessels, these algae reproduce vegetatively and float freely on the sea surface.
How is the biodiversity of the Sargasso Sea?
Although it is thought that there are countless sea creatures in the oceans, especially in open waters, life is very less compared to the coast. Although the Sargasso Sea is an open sea, it is an extremely fertile region in terms of biodiversity. Turtles use the surface sargassum algae for the young need food and shelter.
In addition, Sargasso, which is home to shrimp, crabs, fish and many other sea creatures that have adapted to these surface algae, is home to endangered eels as well as creatures such as white merlin, Porbeagle shark and dolphin. Some of these creatures visit Sargasso during the spawning season.
Humpback whales also migrate to the Sargasso Sea every year. Along with these, tuna fish, which are the apple of the eye of commercial fisheries, also migrate to the Sargasso Sea.
How are the boundaries of the Sargasso Sea defined?
While at least some of the world’s seas are defined by land borders, the Sargasso Sea’s borders are defined by the current.
What level of pollution is in Sargasso, which is so isolated from people?
Although it does not have a land border, the Sargasso Sea, which has surface currents, continues to be polluted with each passing day due to the accumulation of high plastic waste. There is even a large garbage area on the surface of the sea. It’s called the North Atlantic garbage patch. Some countries and non-governmental organizations united to protect the Sargasso Sea. This commission, which established the Sargasso Marine Commission on March 11, 2014, strives to clean the sea and to preserve the ecology.
Studies in the Sargasso Sea have found bacterial strains that consume plastics, but it is not fully known whether these bacteria transfer plastics to another ecological area.
Today, we told you about the Sargasso Sea, which has no coastline on any land that most people are not even aware of. If you want more content like this, you can write to us in the comments section.
Sources: National Ocean Service, Britannica, American Oceans
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