Sargasso Sea

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Context

• The Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean is now at least 30% more acidic and 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was 40 years ago and climate change is to blame.

About Sargasso Sea

• A genus of brown macroalgae called Sargassum is abundant in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Situated in what is known as the renowned "Bermuda Triangle," this sea is the only one in the world without a land border.
• Unlike other seas, its placement is dictated by ocean currents.
• It is surrounded by the huge network of circulating ocean currents known as the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.
• The Sargasso Sea is divided into four sections: the northern limit is marked by the North Atlantic Current, the southern limit by the North Equatorial Current and Antilles Current, and the western limit by the Gulf Stream.
• These borders are shifting in a clockwise manner.
• Season by season, they change in accordance with the Azores High-Pressure Centre.

Sea Boundaries

• The Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, the Canary Current, and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current all serve as boundaries for the anticlockwise-circulating North Atlantic Gyre, which is also known as the North Atlantic Ocean Current System.
• It is roughly 1,100 km (680 mi) wide and 3,200 km (2,000 mi) long, and it is located between 20° and 35° north and 40° and 70° west.
• Bermuda is close to the western seaboard.
• The Sargasso Sea is not a sea in the traditional sense but is instead defined by ocean currents that form a gyre and trap the seaweed and other floating debris in its centre.

More Information about Sargasso Sea

• The tranquil, elliptical Sargasso Sea is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean that is abundant with free-floating Sargassum seaweed.
• Situated between the parallels 20° N and 35° N and the meridian 30° W and 70° W, it is situated within a clockwise-moving ocean current system, with the Gulf Stream—which originates from the Gulf of Mexico—forming a portion of the western rim.
• Weak currents, minimal precipitation, rapid evaporation, light breezes, warm, saline seas, and depths ranging from 5,000 to 23,000 feet (1,500 to 7,000 m) are the characteristics of the sea.
• These elements, along with the absence of heat mixing, produce a biological desert that is mainly absent of plankton, which is a major food source for fish.
• The brown seaweed, also called gulfweed, is kept above the water's surface by its tiny but conspicuous bladders, which resemble tiny berries.
• Then, it seems to get a little replenished by coastal plants floating in from the southwest as it moves with the wind and current.
• Seaweed, most of which is exclusive to the coastal zone, supports a specialist marine life.
• When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage through the Sargasso Sea in 1492, he gave the first description of the region, which includes the Bermuda islands.
• The seaweed signalled land nearby, so Columbus was encouraged to press on.
• However, many early navigators were afraid a worry unfounded of getting entangled in the flotsam of floating vegetation.

Importance of Sargasso Sea

• Sargassum is an essential habitat for fish, crabs, prawns and other marine animals whose habitats have been adapted to these floating algae.
• The Sargasso Sea is home to breeding populations of white marlin, dolphins, porbeagle sharks, and threatened and endangered eels.
• Numerous endemic species, like the Sargassum fish and the young eels known as "leptocephali," can be found in the Sargasso Sea, which is renowned for its distinctive ecology.