THE RED SEA

The Red Sea, The Strangest Sea

Why is the Red Sea associated with the colour red? Three possible explanations might account singly or jointly, for this designation: the reddish mountains bordering the sea, the drying salt pans on its shores that are sometimes colonised by vivid red organisms, or the forms of red scum occasionally found floating on the surface caused by other organisms.

The Red Sea runs from the north to the southeast for about 2400km and is about 180 to 360km in width. The Sinai Peninsula that lies between the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba border the Red Sea to the north. The coasts of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia border it to the west, those of Saudi Arabia to the east, and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb (entrance to the gulf of Aden and hence to the Indian Ocean) border it to the south. The Red Sea occupies an axial ditch that extends north to the Gulf of Aqaba, the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. In fact it separates two continents: Asia and Africa. Its deepest parts reach up to 2920m.

The altitude of the sun and its vertical rays, the cloudless skies, the arid rainless character of the shores, and the absence of rivers combine to give the region a tropical climate.

There is much marine life in the Red Sea, but much is still not known about life in The Red Sea. It's said that the fauna differs completely from that of the Mediterranean and resembles that of the Indo-Pacific, from where it has originated.

But even the fauna of the Red Sea is unique because of the large number of endemic forms it has, and the great variety of animal groups. These forms have evolved because of the region's specific unique environmental conditions such as high temperature, high salinity of the water, and abundance of food. For example, 20-25% of the species of fish found here are considered indigenous to the Red Sea which harbours some of the richest and most spectacular coral reefs in the world.