Pacific Ocean

Background:

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south.

The Pacific Ocean was named by legendary navigator Ferdinand Magellan. A native of Portugal, Magellan renounced his loyalty to that nation after King Emanuel rejected Magellan’s petition for a post within the royal navy. Magellan then left for Spain, which agreed to support Magellan’s claim of a western route to the Spice Islands through a seaway near the southern tip of South America.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan and a crew of 270 men set sail from Spain on their around-the-world voyage in five small vessels including his flagship Trinidad, Concepcion, San Antonio, Victoria, and Santiago. It took the fleet, or at least the three remaining ships in the fleet, 38 days to navigate the strait around South America that was to bear Magellan’s name. During the last week of November, the fleet emerged into what Magellan described as a “beautiful, peaceful ocean.” Thus, it was named the Pacific Ocean (“pacific” meaning “peaceful.”)

Upon entering the Pacific Ocean, Magellan mistakenly thought the Spice Islands were only a short voyage away. Nearly four months later, in March 1521, he and his crew finally reached what is known today as the Philippines. A few weeks later, he was fatally wounded after becoming involved in a dispute between warring Philippine tribes. Only one ship, Victoria, and 18 of Magellan’s original crew members returned to Spain, thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. Although Magellan’s route proved impractical for the spice trade, his voyage has been called the greatest single human achievement on the seas.

Geography:

Location:

Body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere.

Area:

Total: 155.557 million sq km

It includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies.

Area - comparative:

About 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world.

Coastline:

135,663 km

Climate:

Planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December.

Depth:

Its average depth is 4,637 meters (2.8 miles). It is home to the deepest known point in the ocean — the Mariana Trench off Guam — which plunges to a depth of about 10,924 meters (nearly 7 miles). Because of the depth of the Pacific Ocean, tsunamis (huge waves created by earthquakes) can reach speeds of 750 kilometers an hour, the same velocity as a jet airplane.

Natural resources:

One of the Pacific Ocean’s greatest assets is fish, including herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, tuna, and shellfish. Pearls are harvested along Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines.

Natural hazards:

In terms of natural hazards, the Pacific Ocean is surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity (“The Ring of Fire”). Hurricanes may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October. The greatest typhoon frequency exists within the triangle from southern Japan to the central Philippines to eastern Micronesia.

Environment - current issues:

The Pacific Ocean’s endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales. Current major environmental issues include oil pollution in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea.

Geography - note:

The major choke points are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait.The Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean, dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Economy

Economy - overview:

The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over half (60%) of the world’s total fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.

Transportation

Ports and terminals:

*Bangkok (Thailand)
*Hong Kong (China)
*Kao-hsiung (Taiwan)
*Los Angeles (US)
*Manila (Philippines)
*Pusan (South Korea)
*San Francisco (US)
*Seattle (US)
*Shanghai (China)
*Singapore
*Sydney (Australia)
*Vladivostok (Russia)
*Wellington (NZ)
*Yokohama (Japan).