What comes to your mind when you hear the word “sea”? Sandy beach, palm trees, vacationing people? Well, none of that is relevant when it comes to the Sargasso Sea. This one has no shores, and what it has instead is lost ships! Buckle up, as you are about to discover what mysteries it is hiding!
The Sargasso Sea is like no other sea in the world, because it, you know, has no shores! What makes up its borders then? Well, it is located right in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and its borders are all natural – they are 4 ocean currents. It basically sits in the whirlpool in between them. There is the Gulf Stream Current to its west, the Canary Current shifting its waters from the western coast of Africa all the way to South America, to its east, the North Atlantic Current makes up its northern border, and, finally, the southern one is the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. On its western fringes is the island of Bermuda. Does it ring the bell? Yes, that very Bermuda that has to do with mysterious disappearances, and later you’ll find out the connection between the Sargasso Sea and the infamous Triangle.
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So, because its borderlines are ocean currents, and currents are constantly moving, it’s impossible to say exactly how large the Sargasso Sea is. On average, it is about 1430 miles long from east to west and 680 miles from north to south. The water in it is bright blue, and it is so clear you can see 200 ft underwater. Now, when you think of North Atlantic, you probably imagine ice-cold (or close) waters and strong winds blowing around. In fact, that’s not the case with the Sargasso Sea. The water in it is unusually warm for that part of the ocean, about 71 degrees in the winter, and 82 degrees in the summer. The weather conditions here are stable, and the winds are really calm and weak. Sounds like a perfect vacation spot, doesn’t it? Well, every cloud has a silver lining, and if the substantial distance to any land doesn’t scare you, maybe the Sargassum will! It’s a unique dense seaweed that can only be found in this very spot on Earth and is like a thick mat on the surface. The amount of Sargassum in the sea that it has given its name to is about 10 million tons! Together with this huge amount of seaweed, the sea is slowly rotating clockwise.
The first mention of the Sargasso Sea was made by Carthaginian mariners in the 5th century BCE. Himlico the Navigator described the unusual waters covered with seaweed in his accounts. Then, many years later, in the early 15th century, Portuguese sailors discovered this area and spread the word about it. Christopher Columbus crossed it in 1492. He actually thought he reached some land as he got into it because the seaweed was so dense. In fact, he was still hundreds of miles away from the shore. It would all be just an interesting natural phenomenon, except for one moment: the Sargasso Sea is often called the “Sea of the Lost Ships”.
Of course, it is called so for a reason. The sea, located close to the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, has seen many mysterious incidents with huge ships disappearing in it. What normally kills a ship? Severe winds, huge waves, icebergs (you all know what I’m referring to, right?) – but in the case of the Sargasso Sea it was none of the above that ruined so many vessels. On the opposite, it is almost absent winds that sailing ships need to pass through. Large freighters and barges can cross it easily, but smaller and less powerful ships haven’t always been so successful in the area. Ships were stuck, and ships were lost here. Spanish sailors nicknamed the Sea Horse Latitudes as, when they were stranded here for weeks, they had to throw away horses to save drinking water.
The first official record of a lost ship was made in 1840. London Times then reported the disappearance of the tall ship Rosalie. The interesting part is that it didn’t just disappear but eventually came out of the sea with no one on board. The newspaper based the article on a letter they received from Nassau, in the Bahamas, in the summer of that year. It said a French vessel going from Hamburg to Havana was discovered abandoned by small coasters. There was no damage to the ship at all, the sails were set, and the expensive cargo of wines, fruits, and silks was also in perfect condition. The captain’s papers were also secure and in the right place. While there was some water in the hold, they couldn’t find a leak. The officer's and passengers' cabins were all beautifully furnished, there was no mess whatsoever, and it looked like all the humans abandoned the ship within a few hours from the time when it had been found. In fact, it would be unfair to save that no living being on the ship survived, as there was a cat, some fowls, and some canaries that were all safe and sound.
This wasn’t the only record of mysterious disappearances in the area. In 1881, the American schooner Ellen Austin encountered another ship traveling through the area with no passengers whatsoever. The captain of Ellen Austin decided it was a good opportunity to capture the ship and sent his prize crew there. And guess what happened? The ship disappeared for two days, and when it was finally found, no one of the crew was on board! In 1955, the Connemara IV disappeared in the area and was found 140 miles away from Bermuda 1955. And, between the 1960s and 1980s, a few more abandoned boats were spotted in the area.
All these stories, of course, made people fear the area and its seaweed entangling travelers forever. Where do all these people go? Maybe they still live there, as small communities of the Sargasso Sea? It’s one of the versions that became popular in literature. One of the names for such a community is The Sargasso Ogre, and they are described in books as Elizabethan pirates that live amidst the sea. The area is also described in the Lost Island of Tamarind, which mentions a vanishing island.
For those who are seeking a more scientific explanation than some dark powers entangling the ships, there is sadly no official answer yet. Many maritime experts actually believe the sea algae are to blame. Richard Sylvester from the University of Western Australia believes it has to do with the huge whirlpool that is created where the seaweeds accumulate. He compares it to a centrifuge that creates smaller whirlpools. They spread out of the Sargasso Sea and right into the Bermuda Triangle. The big whirlpools are so strong they can catch a ship and drag it inside them. The smaller ones travel as mini-cyclones in the air disturbing the water below them.
Whether the Sargassum seaweed is the cause of all disasters in the area or not is still a question, but it’s certain that it is a unique biological phenomenon. It doesn’t get into the sea with water currents from elsewhere but is actually native to the Sargasso Sea. It is born and grows right in the water. And, it is home to hundreds of fish and invertebrates and a few rare species of sea turtle. Marine scientists and oceanographers from different countries name the Sargasso Sea “the golden rain forest of the ocean” and say it plays a huge role in the life of the North Atlantic ecosystem. For example, it’s really hard for little fish to find a place to hide and grow in the open sea with no coral reefs. They find refuge in the Sargassum right in the middle of the ocean and grow into sailfish, tuna, dolphin fish, marlin, and porbeagle sharks. The fish also take advantage of the plant materials here and use them as good food. The American and European eels come to the area and use it as a safe place to breed. Young sea turtles hide from predators in the mat of weeds until they grow up and become ready to face the open ocean life. Even the migrating humpback whales use the area as a temporary home.
Unfortunately, not only turtles and fish travel with sea currents right into the Sargasso Sea, but also huge amounts of garbage, including plastics that are not biodegradable. Once this garbage gets entangled in the seaweed, it never gets out because of the Sargassum itself and the way the currents on all sides are located. At the moment, this unique sea is part of the North Atlantic garbage patch. It was first founded in 1972 and is ever-growing. At present, it’s hundreds of miles in size. The Government of Bermuda is taking action to protect and conserve this beautiful and unique borderless sea and its wildlife.
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