Pacific Ocean - Celebes SeaThe Celebes Sea (or the Sulawesi Sea) of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi, and on the west by Kalimantan in Indonesia.
The Sea is in the form of a huge basin and has a very deep depth of 6,200 metres. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by 520 miles (837 km) east-west and has a total surface area of 110,000 square miles (280,000 square km). The sea opens southwest through the Makassar Strait into the Java Sea. The Celebes Sea is part of an ancient ocean basin that formed 42 million years ago in a location far from any land mass. It was around 20 million years ago that crust movements pushed the Celebes basin close enough to the Indonesian and Philippine volcanoes to receive volcanic debris. Around 10 million years ago, the Celebes Sea was covered with continental debris, including coal, which came from a rapidly growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia. The Sibutu-Basilan Ridge separates the Celebes Sea from the Sulu Sea. Strong ocean currents, deep sea trenches and sea mounts, combined with active volcanic islands, result in complex oceanographic features. The Celebes Sea is notorious for its pirates who tend to prey not only on small time fishermen but also giant container ships. Nowadays, these pirates have high-tech weapons and equipments like radar and Global Positioning System navigation devices and ride around in high-speed motorboats. The Celebes Sea is home to a wide variety of fish and aquatic creatures. The tropical climate and warm clear waters allow it to harbour around 580 of the world's 793 species of reef-building corals. These grow as some of the most bio-diverse coral reefs in the world. It contains an impressive array of marine life, including whales and dolphins, sea turtles, manta rays, eagle rays, barracuda, marlin and other reef and pelagic species. Tuna and yellow fin tuna are also abundant. In addition to high abundance of fish caught in the Celebes sea, this sea also yields other aquatic products like sea tang. |
