In the science of geography there is a clear concept of whatThe bay is different from the sea. If the first does not have significant features from the rest of the ocean, then in the seas, even open, there is a regime of hydro exchange, a special animal and plant world. In this sense, the Bay of Bengal was undeservedly offended. After all, it is not just a mass of oceanic water moving towards the continent (as, for example, in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain), but a real open sea. However, in the east the bay has its own internal sea - Andaman, protected from other aquatorium by a chain of the same named islands.
The Bay of Bengal has been known to people for a long time. Even before the Age of geographical discoveries, these waters were plowed by Chinese, Indians, Persians and Malays. Since the VII century the Arabs have been intensively exploring the water area. Using such navigation devices as astrolabes and compass, they advanced from the Persian Gulf far to the east, reaching the shores of Indochina. At the beginning of the XV century in these latitudes there were European ships. Northern aliens contributed to the study of the geographical and climatic features of the seas, in particular, they discovered and described the influence on the climate in the gulf of the powerful trade winds forming on either side of the equator.
The Bay of Bengal does not have a clearly defined southernborders. In the west, its cordon is Hindustan and Sri Lanka, and in the east - the Indochina Peninsula. The average depth of this huge open sea is more than two and a half thousand meters, but the depth variations are very heterogeneous. In the north, thanks to the mighty rivers Brahmaputra, Ganges, Pennara, Krishna, Godovari and Mahanadi, the bottom rises. Water arteries carry to the sea a multitude of sediments and silt that form the continental shelf. Therefore, in the northern part of the bay and the salinity is less than in the south - 30 ppm vs. 34. If you look at the water from a height, the difference in the turbidity of water is also noticeable.
The Bay of Bengal is located in the zone of influencehumid equatorial climate. Seasons of the year here form monsoons. In the south in winter, a powerful trade-wind flow is established, which in the north passes into a monsoon current. Here are recorded the largest daily fluctuations in the water level - low tides sometimes lead the sea to 11 meters. In November and December, over the equatorial part of the bay, powerful tropical cyclones are formed, which fly to the coast, causing significant destruction and leading to human casualties. The lower the shore, the greater the damage caused by the elements. So, in the capital of Bangladesh Dhaka, towering above the sea level only eight meters, monsoon water floods the streets to the waist.
Description of the Indian Ocean, especially its fauna andflora, it is quite possible to carry to an animal and flora of the Bay of Bengal. Ever warm waters are inhabited by coral colonies, especially reefs near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sri Lanka. Here are found a variety of fish, jellyfish, crustaceans and mollusks. Ramps (manta) and sharks are very common - coral, tiger, white. Some of these predators penetrate far upstream rivers, attacking humans. From mammals, we can mention several species of dolphins, baleen whales, and also the thunder of the Indian ocean - killer whales.
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