Pacific Ocean - Sulu SeaThe Sulu Sea is a large sea that is located between Borneo (Malaysia), Palawan and the southwestern area of the Philippines in the western North Pacific. It is separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan, and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago.
The southern border of the Sulu Sea is situated at the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge. The southern half of the Sulu Sea is a deep basin. Between this basin and the Palawan Shelf there is a broad slope. Beneath the Sulu Sea is an oceanic ridge trending parallel to Palawan and the Sulu archipelago. From these ridges rise geologic formations of oceanic atolls and platform reefs. The reefs feature gradually sloping underwater terrain to vertical walls that drop to 1,000 metres. The Sulu Sea contains a large number of islands (around 400) extending from Zamboanga south-westward towards Borneo and scattered throughout the sea. Some of the islands are almost isolated. The Cuyo Islands and Cagayan Sulu are part of the province of Palawan while Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi and the Turtle Islands are part of the province of Tawi-Tawi. Sulu Sea is also where the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, one of the World Heritage Sites is located. Sulu Sea fishing is the most important industry in the region in which sea cucumbers, endangered sea turtles, fish and pearls are extensively gathered. The climate in the Sulu Sea is influenced by the monsoon seasons. These are the Southwest Monsoons which occur from June to October and Northeast Monsoons from December to June. The Sulu Sea lies outside of the typhoon belt. The mean annual temperature is 26 degrees centigrade and the maximum is 27 degrees centigrade. The coldest month is February, while May to August are the hottest with a mean relative humidity of 86 %. January to April is the dry period with a monthly average of 7- 9 inches of rainfall. The Sulu Sea has an area of bout 490 miles (790 km) from north to south and 375 miles east to west. |
