Swimming in the North Pacific Ocean

I'm swimming again! Last week the total distance traveled was 24,235 and this week readers have added 3776 for a new total this tenth week of 27,981 kilometers.

You are doing a fantastic job! I've been moving steadily since I started and haven't had to stay too long in one place once!

So, where am I in the North Pacific Ocean? Well I'm at "53 N 170 E" which puts me east of the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, west of the United States Attu Island, and just on the edge of the Bering Sea.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. Could you imagine what our world maps would look like if all the oceans were land and all the land were oceans?

The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean (where I am!) and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands are deemed wholly within the South Pacific.

The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft). That means if Mount Everest, the tallest point on Earth at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), was set in the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 meters (6,811 feet) of water left above it!

So it's a pretty neat ocean isn't it? So check out the Wikipedia entry here to learn lots more!