From the following three questions, pick A or B, and remember the order. Then scroll down, find your combination, and see which body of water you are!

Right now, would you rather eat…
a. Paella with a glass of wine at a waterfront restaurant.
b. Custard beignet drizzled in raspberry sauce in a park. 

If you looked through a telescope, would you rather observe…
a. A star
b. A planet

Which topic do you find more interesting?
a. The science behind dreams
b. History of ancient humans 

 

Scroll and find your combination:

AAA: You are the Atlantic Ocean!
The Atlantic Ocean separates the “East” and the “West”, and lies between the North and South American, European, and African continents. It is the second largest ocean and Christopher Colombus is usually considered the first to have traversed it. This is incorrect. The first people to cross the Atlantic from Europe were the Norse People in the 900s who built a colony in L’Anse aux Meadows in Greenland. Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Europeans traversed the Atlantic while looking for another route to India, and from there, the European colonization of the Americas began. The ocean itself can go from -2C to 38C and has two major gyres. The North Atlantic Gyre is what pushes storms from the side of Africa to the Caribbean and our home here in Florida. It is also what pilots use to fly faster over the Atlantic to Europe!

AAB: You are the Pacific Ocean!
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, and lies between Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. It covers a little over 30% of Earth’s surface and the majority of the islands in the Pacific formed from volcanic activity. This is because along the Pacific ocean’s border hides the ring of fire, a chain of volcanoes that erupt underwater and are responsible for around 90% of all earthquakes. There are gyres that circulate around the Pacific and the North Pacific Gyre made history with Josè Salvador Alvarenga, a fisherman who spent months alone in its waves. On 17 November 2012, Alvarenga set out to fish off the coast of Mexico, and a bad storm set the boat off course. For 14 months, Alvarenga survived off rainwater and small fish that jumped into his boat. He stumbled across the Marshall islands on 30 January 2014 and received treatment. 

ABA: You are the Indian Ocean!
The Indian Ocean is found right below India, between eastern Africa and western South Asia. This ocean was essential to trade in Asia centuries ago when deliveries took several months. The Dutch East Indian Company developed specific trade routes used to sell spices, textiles, and other goods. The Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean and the only ocean with currents that switch directions every year due to severe storms. In the Bay of Bangal, North Sentinel Island houses the indigenous Sentinelese tribe, one of the six tribes of the Andoman and Nicobar Islands. The Indian government forbids contact with the tribe, as they likely do not have immunity to diseases that the rest of the world are exposed to. Those who’ve attempted to interact with the Sentinelese have been injured and some even killed. 

ABB: You are the Mediterranean Sea! 
The Mediterranean Sea flows between southern Europe and northern Africa and is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Black and Red seas. This sea was essential for trade across the two continents and is considered responsible for the spread of western philosophy. Here rose and fell the Roman Empire and began the Islamic Golden Age, periods essential to the spread of engineering, mathematics, and research. The Mediterranean greets water coming from the Nile River, the only river to flow northward and the river that gave life to the Egyptians who built the pyramids thousands of years ago. Odysseus spent 10 years in the Mediterranean trying to get back home after the Trojan War. The Mediterranean was widely considered the most important body of water until travel across the Atlantic began.

BBB: You are Lake Okeechobee!
Lake Okeechobee is found in Florida and is the largest freshwater lake in the state. The name “Okeechobee” comes from a mix of indigenous languages–the Hitchiti tribe from Georgia travelled south due to pressure from colonists, eventually mixing with the Seminole and Miccosukee. It means big water (oki-water, chubi-big) and is, on average, nine feet deep. It is unlikely that anyone lived there before the Seminoles–swampy waters and dangerous animals made the land difficult to navigate. The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the biggest of the Seminole Wars–the Seminoles held their ground long enough to allow their tribe to escape, and had fewer deaths and injuries compared to the Americans. Lake Okeechobee is too large to see across, making it a nice spot for sunrises and sunsets, and is fed mainly by the Kissimmee River. It empties into the Everglades, the only area in the world where alligators and crocodiles live side-by-side. 

BBA: You are the Arctic Ocean!
The Arctic Ocean is the shallowest ocean in the world and houses the North Pole. It’s typically covered with ice. Around this area is the Bering Land Bridge, the section of land humans crossed to inhabit the Americas when sea levels fell shallow enough to expose walkable land. In the Arctic lives the Inuit, a tribe indigenous to the area with ancestors (Thule People) dating back several thousand years. For centuries it was difficult to map due to extreme temperatures. For years, an “Open Polar Sea” was thought to exist as a potential travel route but thick ice was impenetrable. There are several islands in this ocean, mostly belonging to Russia and Scandinavian countries. The Arctic Ocean is fairly cut off from other oceans, hence water movement is commanded by varying water densities and temperatures. Many icebergs, chunks of packed ice, travel south from the Arctic, one famously blocked the RMS Titanic’s path and led to the deaths of nearly all on board. 

BAB: You are the Southern Ocean!
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, surrounds the South Pole and Antarctica, one of the seven continents. For centuries, humans from Asia, Europe, and Africa believed there had to be land around this area to balance out mass across the planet. Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to sail around the bottom of Africa close to the Southern Ocean to prove that there was more to explore on the planet. Connecting the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans is the Drake Passage, a harsh body of water right below Argentina. Named after Sir Francis Drake, who was the first with his crew to live through it in 1578, the Drake Passage has taken the lives of many sailors who tried exploring it. Drake and his crew are considered the first to have killed the indigenous people living on these southern islands. Drake landed on what he named “Elizabeth Island”, one of the first territories claimed by the British in the West. 

BAA: You are the Black Sea!
The Black Sea is a body of water located between Europe and Asia fueled by six major rivers: Dunube, Dnieper, Don, Dniester, Southern Bug, and Kuban. The Black Sea has very little oxygen compared to other seas, which has allowed better preservation of fallen ships archaeologists can study today. Sailors from the ancient world to modern history have all used the Black Sea to travel between cities for trade and war (such as the Byzantines, Persians, Crusaders, Tatars, and Ottomans). Around the Black Sea lived speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, which technically doesn’t have too much evidence of its existence. Linguists piece together language in a certain vicinity, analyze vocabulary and grammar, and try to find similarities between languages to figure out when they began to split into the languages we have around the world today. Since the Black Sea had so many travelers, it was a hub for languages to influence each other. 

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Interesting...maybe you'll see some mermaids around.....

- Val