The sea is named after the Dutch navigator. Great navigators and their discoveries
The Tasman Sea, named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, is body of water between New Zealand and Australia. From north to south, the waters of the Tasman Sea stretch for 2800 km. The maximum depth is considered to be a point in the East Australian Basin, which is located at a distance of 5200 m from the surface of the water. Look at the beauty.
Geography of the Tasman Sea
The first European navigator to reach New Zealand and Tasmania was none other than a citizen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands - Abel Tasman. Subsequently, the Briton James Cook, who scrupulously explored the maritime territories near Australia, during one of the expeditions in the 1770s described the Tasman Sea. And what a story, read here.
In the waters of the Tasman Sea, you can find a number of isolated islands lying at a fairly impressive distance from New Zealand and Australia. Although, in fairness it should be noted, this fact does not prevent the Australians from actively developing tourism on the islands.
Sharks and other entertainment in the Tasman Sea
In the northern part of the sea, the water temperature can reach +27C, in the southern part it rises to +15C. Naturally, the flora and fauna of the Tasman Sea depends on the area. The tropical zone is inhabited by living creatures typical of the Coral Sea. From the southern tip of the sea, where the cool breath of Antarctica prevails, the flora is represented big amount representatives: brown, green, red algae, zooplankton, phytoalgae, microscopic crustaceans.
The fauna is represented by the inhabitants of the oceans. These are pelagic fish, and marine animals, and mammals, and other inhabitants who prefer to eat near corals. The abundance of zooplankton attracts cetaceans to the Tasman Sea: sperm whales, killer whales, and minke whales. For tourists, sightseeing cruises are organized to the places of the supposed feast of whales. I have to say that it just looks amazing.
But the main attraction of the sea are the sharks. There are a great many of them, and of different types. Great white sharks scare tourists with their sharp fins - blue, hammerhead, oceanic, long-finned. closer to coral formations you can meet tiger and reef sharks. You can look at graceful predators in a diving cage.
Located in the western part Pacific Ocean, belongs to Indonesia. Its area is 453 thousand sq. km. The sea is named after the island of the same name. Sulawesi means "iron island" in Indonesian. Another name for the sea is Celebes.
Through the Sulawesi Sea, the waters of the Pacific Ocean enter the Indian Ocean. And the water level here is much higher than in neighboring water areas. This is because almost all of the sea is traversed by the Mindanao Current. The current brings a lot of water, which does not have time to leave through the straits into the oceans.
One of scientific hypotheses suggests that underwater life on earth originated in Sulawesi. Be that as it may, but scientists still find unique inhabitants in the sea. So, in 2007, in the depths of Sulawesi, several species of animals were discovered at once, still unknown to science. Among them are black jellyfish and sea cucumber.
- an inter-island sea bounded by the islands of the Philippines and Sulu archipelagos, as well as the islands of Kalimantan and Palawan. The area of the sea is 335 thousand sq. km. The southern part of the sea is considered reserved. There are many coral reefs and atolls.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Sulu Sea was inaccessible to Europeans, since the power over the water area belonged to the Philippine Moro pirates. These pirates had a large fleet, completely controlled trade in the region, and often robbed coastal cities.
- the southernmost sea of the Pacific Ocean. This is a huge water area separating Australia and New Zealand. The area of the sea is more than 3 million sq. km, the average depth is 3285 m.
The sea is named after the Dutch navigator A. Tasman, who was the first European to visit the New Zealand Islands (1642).
The Tasman Sea is elongated along the meridian, therefore it captures three climatic zones at once - from tropical in the north to temperate in the south. This explains the heterogeneity of the underwater world. If in the north the sea warms up to +27ºC, then in the southern part you can often find icebergs coming here from Antarctica.
It is located south of the equator near the Polynesian islands of Tuvalu, from which the sea got its name. Translated from the local dialect "Tuvalu" - "eight standing together." This refers to the 8 atolls of the archipelago.
The Tuvalu Sea is small, long coastline only 21 km, so it is not always indicated on the maps. But the sea is deep - the greatest depth is about 7000m.
It is located in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between the islands of New Zealand and Fiji. In terms of area, it occupies the 6th place in the world - more than 3 million square kilometers, the average depth is 2741 m. The bottom of the sea is heterogeneous, in its northern part there is a boundary between two lithospheric plates. Their collisions are the cause of numerous underwater volcanoes and earthquakes.
Due to the remoteness from the main sea routes, the Fiji Sea has not yet been developed. But this is what makes the water area one of the cleanest from an environmental point of view. You can get here only by sea and only from the port of Sydney.
- the largest sea in the Pacific Ocean and the second largest sea on the planet. The area is 5.7 million sq. km, the average depth is 4100 m, the largest is 11022 m.
It does not have precise land borders, and conditional borders are marked by chains of islands: Japanese, Philippine, Mariana and the island of Taiwan. The deepest trench in the world, the Mariana Trench, separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean.
In the north and west of the sea lies a vast area of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is known for its high seismicity. The sea itself captures the boundaries of 4 climatic zones - from equatorial to subtropical, therefore undersea world is infinitely varied.
A small inter-island sea in the area of Malykh sunda islands. It occupies an area of 115 thousand square meters. km, average depth - 1522 m. Named after the island of Flores, which means "blooming" in Portuguese.
The sea is located in a zone of high seismic activity. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 was the largest in the history of mankind. And the last earthquake was recorded in this area on February 28, 2015. Its source was at a depth of 518 km, and the magnitude of the earthquake was 7 points.
Flores is one of the few seas where whaling is allowed.
Located between the Moluccas and New Guinea Islands in Indonesia. The area is 75 thousand sq. km, the average depth is 747 m.
Like all the tropical seas of the Pacific Ocean, Halmahera is rich in corals. The reefs are home to many species of fish and shellfish. Such a rich underwater world attracts divers from all over the world.
The sea got its name in honor of the island of the same name. Presumably translated from Malay "halmahera" means "big land".
Spread between the Indochina peninsula and the islands of Taiwan, Palawan and Kalimantan. The area is 3.5 million sq. km, the average depth is 1024 m.
A monsoonal climate dominates over most of the sea area; powerful typhoons often occur in October and November.
The South China Sea was practically not used during the world wars as a springboard for battles. It has always had more transport value. From the northeast to the southwest, a significant segment of the Main Sea Route stretches across the sea, which is used by most ships.
- an inter-island sea bounded by such large islands like Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan. The area is 552 thousand square kilometers, the average depth is 111 m. It is named after the island of the same name.
Most of the sea is located in the equator zone, so the vegetation here is not rich, but the fauna is striking in its abundance. It is known that over 3 thousand species of fish live in the Java Sea, many of which are commercial (pink salmon, herring, mackerel). The prey of sharks and moray eels is very developed.
Washes the shores of China, Korea, Japan and Russia. The sea is narrow and elongated along the meridian, so it is customary to draw a conditional border between the northern and southern parts Sea of Japan. They differ in their climatic conditions as well as flora and fauna.
For Russia, the Sea of Japan is considered the richest in species diversity. More than 600 species of fish live here (for comparison: in the Black Sea - about 200 species), 225 species of algae, 12 species of sharks and 6 species of seals.
And in Korea, this sea is called East or East Korea.
Today it is hard to imagine, but in the 16th century, Europeans were just discovering distant lands and countries, going to unknown lands through the vast expanses of seas and oceans. . At that time there were many white spots on the world map, and the great navigators sought to remove the dark veil that hid the globe from their eyes. Passion for new discoveries called forward, towards dangers, freezing winds and raging storms.
From the second half of the 16th century, Holland occupied a prominent place in the history of the most important geographical discoveries. The name of Willem Barents, a native of North Holland, is associated with the most important journeys. He was born in 1550 on the island of Terschelling to a fisherman's family. In childhood and adolescence, he spent a lot of time at sea, helping his father.
After graduating from the navigation and cartography school in Amsterdam, together with his teacher Peter Plancius, he made a sea voyage to the Mediterranean region, after which the two of them compiled an atlas of this region, and Barents received a diploma as a navigator. Further traces of his biography are lost until the nineties.
In 1594, Barents was appointed captain of the ship Mercury, one of the three ships of the expedition, the purpose of which was to open the way to China. At that time, Portugal and Spain completely controlled the sea route along the coast of India, not letting other powers through, monopolizing trade with China, India and other countries of this region. Therefore, it was decided to look for a way through the northern seas. The famous Flemish mathematician and cartographer Gerard Mercator believed that it was much more convenient and easier to get to China by passing through the northeast. Peter Plancius supported this opinion. In the 16th century, there was still a misconception that the North Pole region was not entirely covered with ice and there was free space, which Barents set off to look for with his expedition.
The ships set off from Tessel Island on June 6, choosing different routes along the way. Barents, following its course, reached the shores of Novaya Zemlya a month later. Along her West Bank"Mercury" reached Cape Nassau, where the Dutch met huge masses floating ice, through which they tried to break through for almost a month, changing direction. Having finally reached the Orange Islands near the northern outskirts of Novaya Zemlya, which the Dutch named after the Prince of Orange, who ruled their country, Barents was forced to turn back, as the team was completely exhausted. Two other ships in the Kara Sea were blocked by ice and returned.
In Holland, the results of the expedition were inspired, this sea voyage was considered very successful. There were hopes that the Chinese kingdom could really be reached, and that it was not as far away as it was supposed.
The second expedition, undertaken in 1595, was unsuccessful - the Yugra Strait was blocked by ice, and the ships had to return. But attempts to find a northern route to Asia did not stop, and already in the next 1596 new expedition departed from Amsterdam. Following a new course, sailors discovered an unknown island, where they first saw the owner of the northern land - a polar bear. The Europeans were so shocked that they named the island after him.
Continuing to move north, on May 17, Barents brought his ship to the rocky shores and at first decided that it was Greenland, but, convinced of his mistake, he indicated a new name in the ship's log - Svalbard, which means "Pointed Mountains".
Following its goal, Barents not only reached Novaya Zemlya, but also, having rounded its northern tip, descended along the eastern coast into the Kara Sea. However, ice blocks prevented further progress, and we had to anchor in a small bay. The ship was compressed from all sides by ice and, in the end, breaking through under it, they pushed it to the surface like a chip. On August 30, the sailors had to leave the ship and set up camp on the shore. Here they survived the long polar winter, enduring hunger, defending themselves from terrible frosts, winds and wild animals. And only on June 13 the sea was cleared of ice, and the Dutch were able to break out of the ice captivity, setting off on the return journey. But Barents was already very ill by that time, and a week later, without fulfilling his cherished dream - to get into the kingdom of China and Khina, great traveler died. His comrades with great difficulty managed to reach the mainland.
Willem Barents is the glory of Holland, rich in bold and skillful sailors. The discoveries of the famous Dutch traveler made an invaluable contribution to the expansion of geographical ideas about the world. The Barents Sea was named after him. Long before the Barents, Russian coast-dwellers explored the northern seas and lands. But only thanks to the Dutchman these areas were put on the world map.
The great navigators of that time, at the cost of the greatest efforts, sacrifices and dedication, made explorations of the vast expanse of the globe, which became more and more understandable and accessible.
The time of the discoverers of new lands for Europeans was the end of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most inquisitive and restless people grouped in three countries: Portugal, Spain and Russia.
The most important discoveries of two centuries
At the end of the eighties of the fifteenth century, the great navigators from Portugal had already searched both the western and South coast distant Africa, in 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed to the Bahamas, Lesser Antilles and discovered America, and 1497 also became important for geographical discoveries: Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India, rounding the African continent. And in 1498, Columbus, Vespucci and Omeja became the discoverers of South America, which they studied for five years, as well as Central America.
Russian great navigators explored mainly the Northern Arctic Ocean. They went around the entire vast northern Asia, discovered Taimyr, and proved that America is not an extension of Asia, leaving the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait. This expedition was led by the great Russian navigator S. Dezhnev, as well as F. Popov. Since 1735, Khariton and Dmitry Laptev traveled around Siberian seas, one of which was later named after them. The names of great navigators are usually present on the map they compiled.
The Dutchman V. Barents bypassed Novaya Zemlya and Svalbard. The Englishman G. Hudson and his associates discovered Greenland, Baffin Island, the Labrador Peninsula, the Frenchman S. Champillin discovered the northern Appalachians, and all five North American Spaniards visited New Guinea. The Dutch V. Janszon and A. Tasman mapped Australia, Tasmania and the islands of New Zealand.
Something about Columbus
A mysterious man remained for posterity Photo, of course, has not been invented yet. But the portraits remained. On them we see a man with a wise look and, it would seem, far from any adventurism. The whole personality and the fate of Christopher Columbus, full of unrest, are ambiguous, vague, one can write an epic novel about this, and even there one cannot contain all the vicissitudes of his life path.
According to one of the many versions, he was born on the island of Corsica in 1451. Fierce scholarly disputes still continue on this topic: six cities in Italy and Spain swear that it is there that the birthplace of Columbus.
His whole life is a legend. One thing is clear - he lived in Lisbon, and before that he went a lot on ships along mediterranean sea. From there, from Portugal, the most important travels of Columbus began, which the greatest navigators of the world have not yet made.
Cuba Island and others
In 1492 he set foot on the island of Cuba. There Columbus found one of the most cultured nations Latin America, who built huge buildings, sculpted beautiful statues, grew cotton already familiar to Europe and completely unknown potatoes and tobacco, which then conquered the whole world. Until now, on this island, the birthday of Christopher Columbus is a national holiday.
The pioneer of the tropical strip of the Atlantic, the first to penetrate the Caribbean Sea, discovered South America and the isthmuses of Central, mapped the Bahamas, Lesser and Greater Antilles caribbean, the island of Trinidad, is all Christopher Columbus. The photo reveals a handsome man, looking calmly from the portrait, without the slightest trace of unrest on his face.
Let the Europeans claim that in North America before Columbus, the path had been blazed by the Vikings from Iceland since the eleventh century. In the Middle Ages, going by sea across the ocean for the tenth time was incredibly difficult and dangerous. And in any case, there are too many lands on the two American continents that no one had discovered before Columbus.
From ship messengers to great navigators
Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 in northern Portugal and was orphaned at the age of ten. In search of a piece of bread, he got a job in the royal court - a messenger. And he went to sea for the first time at twenty-five, although he adored the sea since childhood. It was not in vain that Magellan dreamed of the great navigators and their discoveries. He managed to get into the team of F. de Almeido, who for the first time moved ships under the flag of Spain to the East.
Magellan turned out to be a very capable student, he quickly mastered the maritime business in all professions. Staying in India, living in Mozambique, he finally became a captain. You could return home.
For five years he convinced the Portuguese ruler of all the benefits of the eastern expeditions, but things did not go well, and in 1517 Magellan entered the service of King Charles, so far the first and Spanish, but in the future - the emperor of the Roman Empire.
Trip around the world
In 1493, a bull was issued by the Pope stating that the new lands being discovered to the east were Portuguese, and to the west were Spanish. Magellan led an expedition to the west to bring evidence that the spice islands belonged to Spain.
And this journey, which has such a small and mercantile goal, turned into the world's first round-the-world trip. Far behind were the great navigators and their discoveries, which called Magellan in children's dreams. No one has yet undertaken such a voyage, especially since the earth is round, not all travelers assumed at that time.
Magellan did not have time to provide the world with evidence of his assumptions; he died on this expedition - in the Philippines. However, he died confident in his innocence. The rest of the team returned to Spain only in 1522.
Cossack chieftain
Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev - Arctic navigator, Cossack ataman, explorer and discoverer of many geographical objects, was born in a Pomeranian family, on Pinega, in 1605. Cossack service began as a private in Tobolsk, then he was transferred to Yeniseisk, and even later - to Yakutia. Everywhere he developed new lands, rivers, even crossed the East Siberian Sea on a makeshift koch from the mouth of the Indigirka to Alazeya. From there, already with his comrades, on two makeshift ships, he moved to the East.
In the Kolyma delta they went up the river and founded the city of Srednekolymsk. A few years later, the expedition to the east continued - to the Bering Strait, which for about eighty years will not be Bering: Dezhnev was the first to cross the Strait. The most eastern point mainland - a cape named after the discoverer Dezhnev. In addition, the island, bay, peninsula and village bear his name. In the center in Vologda region a monument was erected to him. He was a reliable person. Honest and hardworking. Hardy. Strong. Fought. Of the thirteen wounds, three are serious. But always and in everything he strove for peace.
southern mainland
By the seventeenth century, Europeans saw the main outlines of the planet Earth. the unexplored areas were vast. The most cunning colonialists sought to explore these territories. Historians have never figured out how an ordinary Dutch peasant became a sailor, but his travels brought invaluable discoveries to the world.
Aristotle even before our era was sure of the existence of an unknown southern land. "Terra australis incognita" ("Unknown Southern Land"), he marked in his notes. It was this land that the navigator Tasman went to look for. sailing ship"Zehaan". In the southern latitudes, nature is inhospitable. Icy wind and almost never sun. The south and southwest sends monstrous storms. Such waves do not happen near the mainland, which means that the southern land is somewhere not here. And Tasman, on reflection, changed the previously laid course. Ahead was complete uncertainty.
Right choice
After the change of course, nature took pity on the sailors - the clouds remained aside, and the sun quickly warmed the ship. Soon the ground appeared. It so happened that Tasman landed on the island that will be named after him, this is significant south of the mainland. He simply missed Australia itself. Tasmania has been surveyed, mapped. Then there will be a city. And at that time there was nothing more to do there - the climate is unpleasant, the rocks are gloomy, the nature is wild, the local population cannot offer anything.
Tasman went on. He was incredibly lucky to discover the islands. Next was New Zealand. True, the local Maori met Tasman, like all subsequent travelers, unfriendly. Rather, even hostile. While trying to explore the new land, several crew members were killed. Therefore, Tasman left this work to posterity, and "Zehaan" immediately departed home. He did not find a shortcut to Chile. But he proved that Australia exists.
Christopher Columbus.
This was 500 years ago. European navigators were looking for a way to the country of fabulous wealth - India. The most courageous of them went on dangerous voyages across uncharted seas and oceans.
In the summer of 1492, Admiral Columbus gave the command to set sail, and the caravels Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria set sail from Spain. The famous journey began Atlantic Ocean- Sea of Darkness. On the seventieth day of the voyage, from the mast of the Pinta caravel, a sailor shouted: “Land! I see the earth! This is how America was discovered.
Christopher Columbus did not know that he had discovered a new part of the world. Until the end of his life, he believed that he had sailed to India.
Ferdinand Magellan.
First trip around the world made by a navigator from Portugal - Ferdinand Magellan. In the autumn of 1519, the Spanish flotilla under the command of Magellan set off. Across the Atlantic Ocean, across the strait to South America, the ships went to the expanses of the Pacific Ocean. For four months, suffering from thirst and hunger, travelers sailed through the boundless waters of the Great Ocean and, finally, reached the unknown islands.
The expedition suffered many losses. And among these losses is the death of Admiral Magellan. On the only surviving ship, the Victoria, the travelers continued their voyage. September 6, 1522, tormented by storms, the ship returned to Spain. There were only seventeen people on board. Thus ended the first voyage around the world in the history of navigation.
Willem Barents.
The Dutch navigator Willem Barents was one of the first explorers of the Arctic. In 1596, during the third voyage in the northern seas, the Barents ship was covered with ice off the island. New Earth. The sailors had to leave the ship and prepare for the winter. From logs and ship planks they built a house. In this dwelling, travelers spent a long polar winter. They endured both hunger and cold ... The long-awaited summer has come. The ship was still in ice captivity. And the sailors decided to get home on boats. A chance meeting with Russian sailors - Pomors saved the Dutch from death. But Willem Barents was no longer among the rescued. The navigator died on the way to his homeland, in the sea, which would later be called the Barents Sea.
Vitus Bering.
On June 4, 1741, two Russian ships under the command of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov set sail in the Pacific Ocean. They were instructed to find a sea route from Kamchatka to America.
The journey was hard. Chirikov's ship, after many months of wandering by sea, returned to Kamchatka. Bering continued swimming alone. In July 1741, Bering reached the shores of America. On the way back he discovered many islands. Luck pleased the captain. But the ship ran out of fresh water and food. The sailors were sick. Bering himself became seriously ill with scurvy. At an unknown island in a storm, the ship washed ashore. On this island the sailors buried the commander. Now the island is named after Bering. The name of the famous captain is the name of the sea and the strait between Asia and America, through which he passed.
James Cook.
James Cook started sailing ships as a boy - a cabin boy. Time passed, and Cook became the captain of the ship. In 1768, Captain Cook embarked on his first circumnavigation of the world on the ship Endever. He returned to his homeland - to England only three years later. Soon James Cook set off on a new voyage to find the mysterious "Southern Land". He never found the "southern land", but discovered many islands in the Pacific Ocean. Cook's ships sailed under scorching sun equator, and among the ice of the polar seas. James Cook was the first person to travel around the earth three times.
F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev.
In the summer of 1819, two sloops, Vostok and Mirny, left Kronstadt on a long voyage. The ships were commanded by the outstanding sailors of the Russian fleet Thaddeus Bellingshausen Mikhail Lazarev. Having overcome a huge distance, the Russian ships entered the cold Antarctic waters. More and more often met on their way icebergs. Swimming was getting dangerous. A ship will collide with an ice mountain - it’s not good. But brave captains led the ships to the goal. And now the sailors saw the shore. The coast of the mysterious "Southern Land" - Antarctica. One sixth of the world has been discovered. This was done by Russian sailors. Now the seas are named after Bellingshausen and Lazarev. Two Soviet scientific Antarctic stations bear the names of glorious ships, Vostok and Mirny.
N.N. Miklukho Maclay.
In 1871, the Vityaz corvette delivered to the island New Guinea traveler Miklouho-Maclay. Here he had to live for a long time, to study the life of the inhabitants of the island - the Papuans. These dark-skinned people lived like in the Stone Age. And so the ship sailed, and the Russian traveler remained on the shore. The Papuans greeted the guest with hostility. But Miklouho-Maclay won the confidence of the Guineans with kindness and courage and became their true friend. The scientist admired their diligence and honesty. He taught the Papuans how to use iron tools, gave them seeds of useful plants. Miklukho-Maclay visited New Guinea more than once. The memory of the great Russian traveler is still alive on a distant island.
Thor Heyerdahl.
It happens that in our time people go on trips on old ships. Such journeys were made by the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl.
Ancient pyramids rise in South America. They are very similar to Egyptian pyramids who stand on the other side of the ocean. Is it by chance? Maybe people sailed from one continent to another 5000 years ago? Thor Heyerdahl decided to check it out. He built a boat in Egypt from a herbaceous plant - papyrus, as he built antiquities, and called it - "Ra". Heyerdahl and his friends crossed the Atlantic Ocean on this boat. The first time he crossed half of the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft. Heyerdahl recently made another amazing voyage on the Tigris reed boat. Representatives of different countries took part in all the travels of Thor Heyerdahl. Among them was the Russian scientist Yuri Senkevich.