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Bay of Bengal Facts

Bay of Bengal Facts
The Bay of Bengal is located in the Indian Ocean's northeastern region. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west and north, and Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to its east. The Bay of Bengal is considered to be the world's largest water region referred to as a bay. The Bay of Bengal encompasses a surface area of 839,000 square miles. Countries with coastline along the Bay of Bengal include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. There is a layer of pollution covering much of the Bay of Bengal between January and March known as the Asian brown cloud, caused by exhaust, industrial discharge, and smoke.
Interesting Bay of Bengal Facts:
Rivers that flow into the Bay of Bengal include the Ganges, the Jamuna, the Padma, the Irrawaddy, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, the Krishna, the Godavari, and the Meghna, among many others.
Important ports of the Bay of Bengal include Yangon, Tuticorin, Port Blair, Paradip Port, Chennai, Chittagong, Kolkata, and Mongla, among others.
Countries that empty into the Bay of Bengal and are considered part of its basin include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Indonesia.
The Bay of Bengal is named for the historic Bengal region which includes West Bengal and Bangladesh.
There are many islands in the Bay of Bengal, including Nicobar, Mergui, and the Andaman Islands.
The Cheduba Islands in the Bay of Bengal's north-east region contain mud volcanoes which as active occasionally.
The Bay of Bengal is located above the great Indo-Australian Plate, which is a tectonic plate that is responsible for the volcanoes that occur in Myanmar.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed as many as 280,000 people in 14 different countries was a result of tectonic activity and the submarine earthquake and tsunami that occurred from pressure in the Bay of Bengal.
There is a great deal of diverse biology in the Bay of Bengal. It is considered one of the 64 largest marine ecosystems in the world.
There is a sea snake in the Bay of Bengal called the Kerilia jerdonii.
The olive ridley sea turtle, which is endangered, is able to survive in nesting grounds at India's Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve along the Bay of Bengal provides a sanctuary for many animals including the giant leatherback sea turtle, the Malayan box turtle, and the saltwater crocodile, among many others.
There have been many severe cyclones that have developed over the Bay of Bengal including the 1970 Bhola Cyclone that killed as many as 500,000 Bangladesh residents.
More than seven percent of the world's fish catch is done in the Bay of Bengal, totaling more than six million tons of fish per year. This has resulted in negative effects to the marine biodiversity of the bay.
There are many famous ships and shipwrecks in the Bay of Bengal including the 1850 American Eagle clipper brig, the Bark which struck a rock in 1855 and sunk, and the Yura - a Japanese cruiser from the 1942 Malay Force.


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