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Christopher Columbus and his crew on the Niña, were
probably the first to encounter and document the Sargasso
Sea. In his log, he wrote that the sailors “saw
much weed and very often, and it was vegetation from rock
and it came from a westerly direction; they judged
themselves to be near land.”
September 17, 1492 (on
that day, 502 years later, my wife, Carol, and I wed. -
david). Their soundings never found the bottom.
They were far from land and in the Sargasso Sea.
September 24, 1492, they
were drifting aimlessly and Columbus wrote:”
Since the sea
had been calm and smooth the men complained, saying that
since in that region there were no rough seas, it would
never blow for a return to Spain. But later the sea rose
high and without wind, which astonished them….”
The sailors gave the
seaweed the name Salgaza due to the small hollow sacks that
reminded them of the grapes from their homeland. As time
went on, the name evolved into salgaco and then scientist
gave the common name Sargassum.
Legends were born from
this area with its astonishing blue color, the light winds
and slow moving water and the thick beds of seaweed. At the
turn of the century paintings showed sea going vessels from
all time periods draped with seaweed and their crews of
bones.
The area known as the Sargasso Sea is a 2
million square mile area of the Atlantic Ocean that borders
the West Indies to the Azores. The Sargasso Sea is flanked
on all sides by different ocean current that revolve around
a simi-central point: Gulf Stream current to the West and
North, the Canary Current to the East and the Equatorial
Current to the south.
Click to
enlarge
The interior of the three (3) currents, or the Sargasso Sea,
is relatively calm. In this location, the weeds form a large
mass together in to large mats. The cause of this is due to
two (2) reasons: the earth’s rotation and the evaporation
process.
The earth’s rotation spins the weed to the
center of the sea. With a somewhat stable area, the sea
evaporates quicker and creates surface a current that
replaces the seawater that is being lost and it brings the
weed with it. The currents tend to keep the weeds located in
the center of the Sargasso Sea but spiraling currents and
storms help to send the weeds throughout the world’s waters.
The winds will push the weed into the Gulf of Mexico and the
Gulf Stream pushes the weeds to the north.
There are six (6) known species of Sargassum,
but the two (2) most common are sargassum fluitans and
sargassum natans. They are very similar and clump together
to form the weed line we love to fish.
sargassum fluitans
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sargassum natans |
sargassum life |
There is a theory, a few million years ago a clump of the
weed detached itself and it has evolved into the species we
seek out and fish today. This theory supports itself due to
the sargassum’s reproductive state: asexual. Sargassum
reproduces asexually and by fragmentation. By these methods
each species may have formed from one ancestor.
Sargassum appears to be one huge clone and could
possibly be the largest organism in the world. If a piece
breaks off, it does not die. It will float and reproduce
over and over and over again. Sargassum does have a life
span, but it is not exactly known what it is: possibly two
(2) to three (3) years.
Many animals and invertebrates call the weed
colonies home. The pelagic weed colony supplies food and
habitat for many small fish. The fish give back through its
excrement that supplies ammonia and phosphates. Filefish,
jacks, flying fish, triggerfish and dolphin make up the main
families that inhabit the brown weeds. The main and most
abundant tenet is the planehead filefish.
Viewing the pelagic mats and lines shows us a
layering below the surface. The small and less mobile fish
will stay within the confines of the weeds. The larger
juvenile fish can be found below the weeds, while the
pelagic predators, tuna and dolphin, are found further into
the water column.
Many invertebrate and animals cling to the weeds. As this
occurs, the buoyancy of the weeds decreases and the weeds
begin to sink. As they sink into the water column, the
pressure burst the small bladders and the weeds sinks and
eventually dies, along with everything else attached.
The weed
lines that migrate to the north in the Gulf Stream offer
great fishing opportunities. Due to the shelter offered from
the weeds, this form of shelter is similar to an oasis in
the dessert. Dolphin are the main target, but tuna and
billfish are plentiful. Just about any bait will work:
natural bait, live bait, spoons, plugs, etc. |
