An image of the distribution and size of eel larvae shows the approximate location of the Sargasso Sea.

The Sargasso Sea is a region in the Atlantic Ocean. eel migration (image by Uwe Kils) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... eel migration (image by Uwe Kils) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

The sea is an elongated region in the middle of the North Atlantic, and is surrounded by ocean currents. On the west it is bounded by the Gulf Stream; on the north, it is bounded by the North Atlantic Current; on the east, it is bounded by the Canary Current; and on the south, it is bounded by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. It is, very roughly, 700 statute miles wide and 2,000 statute miles long (1,100 km wide and 3,200 km long). It stretches from roughly 70 degrees west to 40 degrees west, and from 25 degrees north to 35 degrees north. Bermuda is located near the western fringes of the sea. For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ... An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. ... For the album by Ocean Colour Scene, see North Atlantic Drift (album) The Gulf Stream is orange and yellow in this representation of water temperatures of the Atlantic. ... The North Atlantic current is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. ... The Canary Current branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows toward the South West about as far as Senegal where it turns West. ... A mile is any of several units of distance, or, in physics terminology, of length. ... km redirects here. ...

The Sargasso Sea, which is very salty, is often regarded as being lifeless, though it is home to some seaweed of the genus Sargassum. This seaweed floats en masse on the surface there. The Sargasso Sea also plays a major role in the migration of the European eel and the American eel; the larvae of both species hatch there and go to Europe and/or the East Coast of North America. Later in life, they try to return to the Sargasso sea to lay eggs there. Seaweed-covered rocks in the UK Biologists, specifically marine biologists, consider seaweed to be any of a large number of marine benthic algae that are multicellular, macrothallic, and thus differentiated from most algae that tend to be microscopic in size [1]. Many phycologists prefer the term marine macroalgae over seaweeds... Species Sargassum bacciferum, aka. ... This article is about non-human migration. ... Binomial name Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) The European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, is a snakelike fish. ... Binomial name Anguilla rostrata Le Sueur, 1821 The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a fish found on the Eastern coast of the United States. ... Leptocephalus larva A leptocephalus is the flat and transparent larva of the eel. ... An average Whooping Crane egg is 102 mm long, and weighs 208 grams In some animals, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ...

Portuguese sailors were among the first to discover this region in the 15th century. Christopher Columbus and his men also noted the Sargasso Sea. They brought reports of the large amount of seaweed on the surface. The Carthaginian admiral Himilco had earlier made similar reports after sailing through the Pillars of Hercules: "Many seaweeds grow in the troughs between the waves, which slow the ship like bushes {...} Here the beasts of the sea move slowly hither and thither, and great monsters swim languidly among the sluggishly creeping ships" (Rufus Festus Avienus). Christopher Columbus portrait, painted by Alejo Fernándõ between 1505 and 1536. ... Ruins of Carthage Carthaginian settlements in the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. The term Carthage refers both to an ancient city in North Africa — located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the center of modern Tunis in Tunisia — and to the civilization which developed... Himilco (Phoenician Chimilkât), Carthaginian navigator and explorer lived in 6th century BC. Himilco is the first known sailor from the Mediterranean Sea to reach the northwestern shores of Europe. ... Pillars of Hercules - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Avienus was a Latin writer of the 4th century. ...

Due to its proximity to Bermuda (and its subsequent location in the Bermuda Triangle), the sea is credited with some of the infamous disappearances there; this stigma is further enforced by the sometimes total lack of wind over the sea, and the possibility for modern engines to become entangled in the sargassum, rendering most vessels stranded. For these reasons it is sometimes referred to as the "graveyard of ships." Map of the popularly-held dimensions of the Bermuda Triangle; recent claims by researchers allude to a more trapezium shape, extending back into the Gulf of Mexico and down into the Caribbean Sea, or in fact no dimensions at all, and a shape incorporating all of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. ...

See also

• Eel life history
• Super-Sargasso Sea