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The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and
Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...
and Mindanao Island of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, on the east by the
Sangihe Islands The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – id, Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of islands which constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands R ...
chain, on the south by
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...
's Minahasa Peninsula, and on the west by northern
Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...
in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by east-west and has a total surface area of , to a maximum depth of . South of the
Cape Mangkalihat Cape Mangkalihat, also known as Cape Sangkulirang, is a cape in eastern Borneo. It is located in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan, in the regencies of Berau and East Kutai. The cape, as part of the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst, is n ...
, the sea opens southwest through the
Makassar Strait Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat Pen ...
into the
Java Sea The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its no ...
. The Celebes Sea is a piece of an ancient ocean basin that formed 42 million years ago in a locale removed from any landmass. By 20 million years ago, earth crust movement had moved the basin close enough to the
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n and
Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...
es to receive emitted debris. By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
, which was shed from a growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia. The border between the Celebes and the Sulu Sea is at the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge. Strong
ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth conto ...
s, deep sea trenches and
seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...
s, combined with active
volcanic island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
s, result in complex oceanographic features.


Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary

On 23 May 2013, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia signed an agreement to establish the boundary line that delimits the overlapping Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the two countries. It has been agreed that north of the boundary line will be under the jurisdiction of the Philippines (named as ''Mindanao Sea'') and Indonesia be south of the boundary line (named ''Celebes Sea'').


Extent

The
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters ...
(IHO) defines the Celebes Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
''On the North.'' The Southern limit of
Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...
rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_
rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island_ Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the_Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Reg_...
_(),_through_this_island_to_its_Southern_extremity,_thence_a_line_to_Bitinan_Island_()_off_the_Eastern_end_of_ rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island_ Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the_Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Reg_...
_(),_through_this_island_to_its_Southern_extremity,_thence_a_line_to_Bitinan_Island_()_off_the_Eastern_end_of_Jolo">Jolo_Island_ Jolo_(_tsg,_Sūg)_is_a_volcanic_island_in_the_southwest_Philippines_and_the_primary_island_of_the_province_of_Sulu,_on_which__the_capital_of_the_same_name_is_situated._It_is_located_in_the__Sulu_Archipelago,_between_Borneo_and_Mindanao,_and_has__...
,_through_Jolo_to_a_point_in_long._121°04'E_on_its_South_coast,_thence_through_ rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island_ Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the_Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Reg_...
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,_through_Jolo_to_a_point_in_long._121°04'E_on_its_South_coast,_thence_through_Tapul,_Sulu">Tapul_and_ rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island_ Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the_Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Reg_...
_(),_through_this_island_to_its_Southern_extremity,_thence_a_line_to_Bitinan_Island_()_off_the_Eastern_end_of_Jolo">Jolo_Island_ Jolo_(_tsg,_Sūg)_is_a_volcanic_island_in_the_southwest_Philippines_and_the_primary_island_of_the_province_of_Sulu,_on_which__the_capital_of_the_same_name_is_situated._It_is_located_in_the__Sulu_Archipelago,_between_Borneo_and_Mindanao,_and_has__...
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,_through_Jolo_to_a_point_in_long._121°04'E_on_its_South_coast,_thence_through_Tapul,_Sulu">Tapul_and_Lugus,_Sulu">Lugus_Islands_and_along_the_North_coast_of_Tawi-Tawi">Tawitawi_Island_to_Bongao,_Tawi-Tawi.html" ;"title="Tawi-Tawi.html" ;"title="Lugus,_Sulu.html" ;"title="Tapul,_Sulu.html" ;"title="Jolo.html" "title="Basilan_(island).html" "title="Mindanao.html" ;"title="rom Tagolo Point, down the West coast of Mindanao">rom Tagolo Point, down the West coast of Mindanao to the Southwest extremity thence to the North coast of Basilan (island)">Basilan Island Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ...
 (), through this island to its Southern extremity, thence a line to Bitinan Island () off the Eastern end of Jolo">Jolo Island Jolo ( tsg, Sūg) is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and the primary island of the province of Sulu, on which the capital of the same name is situated. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has ...
, through Jolo to a point in long. 121°04'E on its South coast, thence through Tapul, Sulu">Tapul and Lugus, Sulu">Lugus Islands and along the North coast of Tawi-Tawi">Tawitawi Island to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi">Bongao Island off its Western end (), and from thence to Tanjong Labian, the Northeastern extreme of Borneo] and the Southwest coast of Mindanao. ''On the East.'' A line from Tinaca Point, the Southern point of Mindanao, to the North point of Sangir Island, pulau Sangihe Besar () thence through the Sangir Islands, pulau-pulau Sangihe to Tanjung Puisan, the Northeast extreme of Celebes [
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...
]. ''On the South.'' The North coast of Celebes between tanjung Puisan and tanjung Binar (Cape Rivers) () and thence a line to Mangkalihat Peninsula, Tanjung Mangkalihat in Borneo, the Northern limit of
Makassar Strait Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat Pen ...
line joining Tanjung Mangkalihat, Borneo () and tanjung Binar (Cape Rivers), Celebes () ''On the West.'' The East coast of Borneo between Tanjung Mangkalihat and Tanjong Labian, the Southern limit of the Sulu Sea.


Marine life

The Celebes Sea is home to a wide variety of fish and aquatic creatures. The tropical setting and warm clear waters permit it to harbor about 580 of the world's 793 species of reef-building
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...
s, which grow as some of the most bio-diverse coral reefs in the world, and an impressive array of
marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. ...
, including
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
s and
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the b ...
s,
sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...
s,
manta ray Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-s ...
s, eagle rays,
barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which ...
, marlin and other reef and
pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...
species.
Tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
and
yellowfin tuna The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye ...
are also abundant. In addition to high abundance of fish caught in the Celebes sea, this sea also yields other aquatic products like sea tang.


Commercial significance

The Celebes Sea is an important sea route for regional trade. The sea is also popular for
scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...
and luxury ocean cruising.


Geology

The Celebes Sea is underlain by an oceanic plate with a mid oceanic spreading in the center part. This plate is subducted to the south and north. A number of seismic surveys and research drillings were done in this area to gather geological information. The geology of Sulawesi Sea has been described in the Geology of Indonesia Wikibook.


See also

* Bunaken * Davao Gulf * Maitum, Sarangani *
Minahassa Peninsula The Minahasa Peninsula, also spelled Minahassa, is one of the four principal peninsulas on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It stretches north from the central part of the island, before turning to the east and forming the northern boundary of ...
* Moro Gulf * Sangir Islands * Sarangani Bay * Talaud Islands


References


External links


Ocean Explorer (www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov)
- Public outreach site for explorations sponsored by the Office of Ocean Exploration.

- A rich collection of images, video an
audio podcast

NOAA, Ocean Explorer YouTube Channel
{{Coord, 3, N, 122, E, type:waterbody_scale:5000000, display=title Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean Seas of Indonesia Seas of the Philippines Seas of Malaysia Geography of Mindanao Landforms of North Sulawesi Indonesia–Malaysia border Indonesia–Philippines border Malaysia–Philippines border Landforms of Kalimantan Maritime Southeast Asia