• The Sargasso Sea is a gyre, an oceanographic term meaning a large system of rotating ocean currents.
• Located in middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Sargasso Sea is entirely surrounded by four ocean currents that form the North Atlantic Gyre.
• Sargassum—large mats of unique seaweed—provide shelter, nursery, spawning and feeding habitats to a wide variety of marine species.
• Some of the marine species relying on the unique Sargasso Sea habitat have evolved specific shapes and color patterns that camouflage them among the Sargassum.
• Referred to as the “North Atlantic garbage patch,” large amounts of plastic pollution have been found in the North Atlantic Gyre, of which the Sargasso Sea is a part.

Bermuda—the oldest and most populous of Britain’s Overseas Territories—is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, almost 1,000 kilometers (700 miles) from the East Coast of the United States. Its islands are made up of limestone formations that sit on the largest of three volcanic seamounts formed more than 110 million years ago. Globally important seagrass meadows, coral reefs, mangrove swamps, diverse marine life, and an extensive network of underwater caves are found here.

The warm waters of the Gulf Stream (a powerful Atlantic Ocean current) enable Bermuda’s shallow near-shore waters to support the northernmost coral reef system in the world. Approximately 4,600 of Bermuda’s more than 8,000 species are found in its blue waters. Thirty-six of these marine species are recognized as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, including the green turtle, oceanic whitetip shark and blue whale. Sixteen species of whale, seven of dolphin and ten of sharks are known to live in Bermuda’s waters.

Bermuda and its surrounding waters lie within the Sargasso Sea, an enormous mass of water that is driven in a clockwise direction by strong ocean currents. Floating on its surface are large mats of unique seaweed known as Sargassum, which support a unique variety of marine life. Scientists have documented that eel species from European and North American rivers migrate here to spawn. Their young then make their way back to live in these rivers. The Sargasso Sea also plays an important role in the life cycle of the porbeagle shark, which is considered “vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Recent research has found that the Sargasso Sea serves as critical birthing grounds for the shark species. Given this highly productive ecosystem, scientists, Bermudians and others are concerned about protecting this area from emerging threats, such as proposals to harvest Sargassum for biofuel.

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