What is spring break without the ocean coast? A week's vacation for student’s biggest decision is where the best water conditions are located. We have the Atlantic Ocean which is the second largest of the world's oceanic divisions, following the Pacific Ocean. The things to know when deciding which oceanic coast to choose to have the safest experience you need to focus on ocean temperatures, rip currents, and water sanitation.
Although temperatures vary across both ocean bodies they continue to warm throughout June and July along the entire coast. At most beaches, the water temperature peaks in August and early September. The Atlantic Ocean is warmer on average, sometimes by as much as sixteen degrees Fahrenheit at given latitude. This is …show more content…
They are relatively strong, narrow current flowing outward from the beach through the surf zone and presenting a hazard to swimmers. They typically extend from the shoreline, through the surf zone, and past the line of breaking waves. Rip currents can occur at any beach with breaking waves. On the Pacific Ocean coast line, the prevailing winds are behind the waves, which increase the waves' energy. On the Atlantic Ocean coast, the prevailing winds blow against the incoming waves, decreasing the waves' energy. Rip currents can be killers. The United States Lifesaving Association estimates that the annual number of deaths due to rip currents on our nation's beaches exceeds one hundred (2016). If the distance between the wavelengths is long then the waves are shorter and smoother; if the distance of the wavelength is shorter than the waves are bigger and rougher. In the Pacific Ocean’s water, the average wavelength, or distance between wave crests, is about two hundred and thirty feet. In the open ocean of the Atlantic, the average wavelength is about three hundred feet. Likewise, the Atlantic Ocean coast is safer for swimmers if caution is …show more content…
When large tracts of land are plowed, the exposed soil can erode during rainstorms. Much of this runoff flows to the sea, carrying with it agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. Both ocean sides have suffered from contaminated salt water. Scientists estimate that the North Atlantic Garbage Patch is hundreds of kilometers in size and has a density of two hundred thousand pieces of trash per square kilometer in some places. On the other hand, located in the northern Pacific Ocean, a collection of marine debris is largely composed of plastic and chemical sludge. This patch is believed to have formed gradually as marine pollution was brought together by ocean currents. The exact size of the patch is unknown, but estimates range from twenty seven hundred square miles to more than five million eight hundred thousand square miles. Because the floating debris is largely composed of microscopic pieces of plastic, it is invisible from space. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch collects marine debris from North America and Asia, as well as ships travelling through the area. The fact that more than eighty percent of marine pollution is caused by land-based activities that cause oil spills, fertilizers and toxic chemical runoff and the discharge of untreated sewage, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (2014). That is to say, the Atlantic Ocean coast is less polluted than the Pacific Ocean