The area of the Atlantic Ocean labeled “The Bermuda Triangle” consists of a vast stretch of water roughly contained within the boundaries of a line from Miami, Florida to the island of Bermuda, south to Puerto Rico and back to the east coast of Florida. Within the last five hundred years there have developed many legends and much speculation that something highly mysterious occurs in this area of the Atlantic.

There are purely physical reasons that make this a hazardous region for land dwelling creatures to venture forth upon. The weather patterns in this area have several factors working to keep it in an ever-changing flux of conditions. The warm Gulf Stream passes back into the colder Atlantic waters along this area and the temperature differentials keep quick forming storms appearing. This area is also along the northern edge of the hurricane zone and is often swept by these massive summer storms.

Nestled within this area is the Sargasso Sea. This predominantly shallow region is surrounded and held in place by four major ocean currents, the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, the Canary Current and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. This area contains not only the shallow areas of sea floor but also some of the deepest trenches in the Atlantic Ocean, thus generating even more hazardous ebbs and flows of these vast currents.

Within the clockwise swirl of this strong moving water grows vast fields of Sargassum seaweed. This algae plant roots itself to the ocean floor and utilizes air sacs to raise the upper fronds to the surface for photosynthesis. When first discovered by Portuguese sailors in the early 1500′s this plant life covered the area so thickly that sailing ships could hardly penetrate into it and if they did, found themselves often becalmed and stranded in it’s midst.

From the very beginning of European shipping to the North American continent this area has been both blessing and curse. Coming from Europe the sailing ships followed the westward blowing trade winds that ride the Equatorial Current and return utilizing the flow of the Gulf Stream back to Europe. Even now, with motorized vessels being the primary seagoing transport, this area is one of the most heavily traveled shipping lanes in the world. With the advent of air traffic a century ago, it has now become one of the most used air traffic lanes as well.

Yes there are more than the average number of accidents, deaths and disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle area than in most other parts of the oceans of our world. This should be expected rather than mystified since this area sees more traffic than any other shipping lane in the Atlantic. Couple this congestion with the seething variables of current, climate and weather conditions that are unique to the region and you have a ready-made recipe for disaster.
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