Bays usually tend to contain fish and other sea creatures, and due to their lower wave and wind activity, they provide a place for fishing. Since they are also shallower than the ocean, they are a great place for safe anchorage and are usually used as ports. Difference between Ocean and Bay.
Key difference: Oceans are a vast body of salt water that cover almost three fourths of the earth's surface. A bay is a body of water covered by land on three sides. Image Courtesy: movingplanets. Add new comment Your name. Plain text. It can be considered a large bay. The world's largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico, with a total surface area of about 1,, square kilometers , square miles.
The Persian Gulf is important with respect to world energy because petroleum is transported through its waters in oil tankers. Scientific investigations of the Gulf of Mexico have documented a large area off the coast of Louisiana with depleted oxygen levels, a condition known as hypoxia. Most aquatic species cannot survive at such low oxygen levels, and a so-called "dead zone" results.
After the flood of the Mississippi River, this area of hypoxia more than doubled in size, to over 18, square This satellite view of the Arabian Peninsula illustrates gulfs, a strait, and marginal seas. The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is at the bottom left.
Generally, hypoxia can be traced back to excessive nutrients and excessive growth of algae , which ultimately dies and whose massive decay reduces the concentration of oxygen needed for aquatic species. Because of its enlarged size and continuing existence, the hypoxic zone could threaten the economy of the U.
Gulf of Mexico region, including its highly valued commercial and recreational fisheries. Like bays, gulfs are important measures of the health of aquatic ecosystems because so many waterbodies drain into them. Whatever has been deposited into these waterbodies eventually can reach gulfs. A strait is a narrow passageway of water, usually between continents or islands, or between two larger bodies of water.
The Strait of Gibraltar is probably the world's most famous strait. It connects the Atlantic Ocean on its west with the Mediterranean Sea on its east. It also separates northern Africa from the Rock of Gibraltar on the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. Historically, almost all commerce between the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean was routed through the Strait of Gibraltar. It is still an important route of international trade. Two other well-known straits are the Strait of Bosporus and the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Bosporus is located in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea from the north and the Sea of Marmara from the south , and splits northwestern Turkey. The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake. There are more than 50 seas in the world. So why are we so used to hearing that there are seven?
However, it has meant different things throughout history. But this likely varied in different parts of the world where different bodies of water were known. Is your favorite reptile actually a landlubber? Find out the difference between turtles and tortoises. In the most general sense, sea and ocean are often used interchangeably to refer to the massive body of salt water that covers most of the planet.
The technical distinction used for the purposes of geography is that an ocean is one of the five or seven divisions of these waters, while a sea is a smaller portion of the ocean, most often one bounded by land in some way. Both terms are commonly used in phrases and compound words like seaside , oceanside , seawater, ocean liner, seascape, and many more. These terms are typically used in the general sense of the words, or refer specifically to whatever body of water is nearby.
Both ocean and sea can also be used in similar figurative ways to refer to a large expanse, as in a sea of people , or a great amount, as in an ocean of possibilities. Sea is perhaps more commonly used in poetic ways.
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