What are the records of the Pacific Ocean. Seas along the east coast of Australia. How did the modern names of the oceans come about?

Unlike predictors, scientists tried to somehow rationally explain various dreams. But, unfortunately, neither one nor the other managed to solve the mystery of dreams ... Dreams remain a little-studied area.

There is also a third category of those who can interpret dreams somehow in their own way - this ordinary people. For years they have been accumulating and systematizing knowledge in this area ...
Previously, there was such a theory: the human brain, like a sponge, accumulates a lot of different information per day, and various chemicals (carbon dioxide, lactic acid and cholesterol) also enter the brain along with the information. Scientists believed that it was during sleep that the decay process took place. chemical substances, which was accompanied by visions and strange dreams.

The philosopher and mystic Carlos Castaneda said that a dream is the same world as ours, only it is a parallel reality. In his opinion, everyone can visit a lot different worlds, you just need to learn how to reconfigure your center of perception. This attunement involuntarily occurs during the night's rest, which gives rise to strange dreams and fantastic, unearthly worlds.
Charles Leadbeater - member of the Theosophical Society, claims that during sleep the astral body of a person leaves the boundaries physical body and go on a journey. The astral body can travel at the speed of the wind to any cities and worlds, all over the globe.
But there is one “but”… Only the disciples of the Great Teachers can consciously go on such a journey in the astral plane.
1. External world, and what surrounds a person greatly affects what a person sees at night, i.e. what dream. For example, there was such a case: during a dream, a lace fell on a man’s throat, and at that time he dreamed of a revolution: he was captured, tried, and then guillotined. A relaxed body reacts very exaggeratedly to external stimuli.


2. When a person sleeps, it can be considered that his body is paralyzed. It relaxes very much, if the body did not rest, the person in a tense form repeated all the movements that he could shoot.


3. It is strange that children from 3 to 8 years old most often have nightmares. Probably, this is due to the unstable child's psyche.


4. Sometimes, waking up, a person thinks that he did not dream anything. But this is wrong. We forget 90% of what we dream about 10 minutes after we wake up. It is worth noting that many scientists, poets, musicians and writers had strange dreams in which they composed new works, developed new theories. Thus, the famous periodic table, one of Beethoven's creations, as well as the fable "Two Doves" by Lafontaine, and the benzene formula invented by August Kekule were "born" as an example.


5. It's a mistake to think that we're filming strangers. All the heroes of our dreams real people, Furthermore those whom you have already seen in your life simply did not remember their faces. The subconscious simply gives out what it has already seen.


6. Have you heard about the interesting fact that Schiller, Peter I, Bekhterev and Goethe - slept only about 5 hours a day? Napoleon - no more than 4 hours, and Edison in general - only 2-3 hours.


7. C Greek the word "sleep" is translated as "hypnosis". It is these two states that are incredibly similar, a person becomes very impressive and can be influenced.


8. Sometimes it is very difficult to interpret your own dreams. And all because the subconscious does not show us literal dreams. It encodes information using symbols and various images.

9. Those who are delivered from the birth of dreams are blind. They dream differently a common person. The dreams of a blind person are filled with tactile sensations, sounds and even smells.

10. Not many people can boast that he has colorful dreams. However, every person at least once dreamed of teeth falling out, failure in exams, falling from a height, escaping from pursuers.


11. Those who fall asleep very quickly, in 5 minutes, suffer from chronic lack of sleep. The normal and optimal time interval is 10-15 minutes.


12. If you stay awake for more than 17 hours, it leads to a deterioration in performance, the effect on the body can be compared with the effect of 5 ppm of alcohol in a person's blood.


13. Long-term lack of sleep in the driver is the cause of every 6 car accidents (accidents).

14. Before the era of universal electrification, people slept approximately 9-10 hours a day, the wakefulness period was determined by the length of daylight hours.


15. Medical experts say that round-the-clock Internet access is a very powerful factor that disrupts good sleep.
Today they say that sleep is simply necessary for the brain so that it is freed from unnecessary information and can work normally. So to speak, in a dream there is a cleansing of the brain. Any person every 90 minutes of a night's rest sees different dreams. The most memorable are those dreams that we see in the morning.

Sleep is a periodically occurring physiological state characterized by an almost complete absence of reactions to external stimuli. The pictures seen in the state of sleep are the result of the natural workings of the brain, and most dreams can be fully explained by physiological and mental causes. However, if we ignore the dry language of medicine and psychology, we must admit that dreams are something more essential for a person than just a “physiological state”. We spend a third of our life in a dream - we sleep and dream. Dreams represent fragments of meaningless images, memories, clothed in the form of emotional experiences, spiritual aspirations. Other dreams are more complex, detailed actions, interconnected plots. Other dreams extract something hidden from the depths of the heart, from the recesses of conscience, they seem to be suffering, retribution for committed mistakes and evil deeds. Dreams allow us to experience and remember the long-forgotten, to see the long-dead alive and vice versa, they show living and healthy people close to us in an alarming or disastrous way. It is difficult to imagine a person who would not be disturbed by a dream, where he would see that misfortune or illness was happening to his relatives or children. And what is such a dream - a warning, some kind of sign from above, or just a subconscious guilt dressed in an image for a lack of care and attention?

The realm of dreams is endless and diverse, like life itself, and sometimes more reliable and real than everyday reality. But she, this area, in itself is neither life nor death, but something intermediate between the first and the second. Since ancient times, dream images have been perceived as a special language of signs and symbols. In ancient pagan beliefs, dreams were assigned the role of figurative texts with which higher powers and deities communicate with mortals. IN Greek mythology the dream personified the corresponding deity - Hypnos, son of the Night and brother of Death. The Latin poet Ovid (1st century AD) describes in his Metamorphoses the abode of Hypnos in the Cimmerian land: “... there is a cave, a recess in the mountain - of a motionless Sleep there are chambers ... there are vague twilights forever ... imitating different guises, all dreams lie, and there are as many of them as there are ears of corn in the field, leaves in the forest or sand caused by the sea ..."

The first of the well-known systematized collections of interpretation of dreams - "Oneirocritika", the predecessor of the later "Dream Books", belongs to Artemis or Daldiansky (2nd half of the 2nd century AD). In the introduction to his work, the author refers to the "books of the ancients" and "ancient writings", and also to the fact that, "firstly, I considered it a matter of honor to get any book about dreams, and secondly, ... for many years, neglecting slander, he hung out with those slandered market soothsayers whom important and arrogant people call beggars, deceivers and jesters. Artemidorus describes the difference between an ordinary dream and a prophetic dream. The reason for ordinary dreams, according to Artemidorus, is the recollection of the present, that is, the reflection of life impressions in a dream. In turn, prophetic dreams are subdivided by him into "directly contemplative" and "allegorical". Directly contemplative dreams are those whose fulfillment in reality is similar to what was dreamed in a dream. Allegorical dreams signify one through the other and are divided into five types.

It is curious to note that people who lived two thousand years ago, during the time of Artemidor of Daldian, and much earlier, as shown by the texts of the tablets from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC), had the same dreams that we see we, about the ascent to heaven and the descent into underworld, dreams about flights, teeth falling out, quarrels with relatives, receiving gifts, about moving, trade deals ...

People who lived in ancient times, as well as today, tried to guess behind the images and pictures of dreams foretelling their future, happy or sad events. If the picture that was seen in a dream seemed unclear, professional fortune-tellers or manuals like Artemidor's Oneirocriticism were brought to help. Dubious science is often busy complicating the void when it takes its subject too seriously. About how diverse the variations of interpretations on a single subject that existed in antiquity is confirmed, for example, by the section on dreams about teeth in the book of Artemidorus. And to this day, our folk superstitions have preserved signs associated with dreams of fallen teeth, which are unambiguously understood as “for worse”, “lost teeth in a dream - to death”, etc. In Oneirocriticism (Book 1, 31) they differ dreams about the upper teeth and about the lower, right and left, and “the middle teeth, called incisors, indicate the young, the fangs indicate middle-aged people, and the molars indicate the old. What kind of tooth someone loses, such a person will lose. At the same time, in an incomprehensible way, teeth that fell out in a dream also indicate property, and “indigenous ones mean treasures, fangs are not very valuable things, and incisors are household utensils”, also “any fallen teeth promise debtors the payment of debts”, a slave - liberation, merchants - sale of goods, etc. As can be seen from the list of an ancient author, a dream of tooth loss can be summed up under any event that happened in life, there would be a corresponding sign.

A sign in itself is not yet a superstition - it can be a natural consequence of everyday observation, for example - signs of the weather, harvest, external signs of a person's character. The very word "omen" (from - to mark, to bait, to outline something in a hurry) contains a partial explanation for the stability of this phenomenon. The sign connects, “schedules” events, giving them the appearance of a causal relationship, and claims to be a kind of “secret prophecy”, expressed through a sign, or a sign itself, indicating something that should happen. Another thing is the superstitious or pagan state of noteworthiness - belief in omens, the deduction from any random premises of mysterious and mystical connections related to the present or future. Everything that concerns faith, including belief in omens, is already the realm of the spiritual, that is, the realm of fidelity and hope. The Christian faith is the liberation of man from base beliefs in dark and magical powers. The attitude to signs, including in dreams, in Christianity is very cautious and strictly limited by certain conditions, which we will discuss below. The area of ​​sleep, dreams - from the point of view of research, the correct, not false and seductive attitude in this area was carefully explained by spiritual ascetics and ascetics: God to deliver us from trouble," he said. reverend elder Nectarius of Optina.

Dreams in Scripture

The attitude of the Bible to dreams and dreams is twofold: on the one hand, it compares dreams with chaff, and on the other hand, it says that God also enlightens people with dreams (Acts 2:17).
The Bible connects the ability of a person to dream with the activity of our brain as the physical basis of the mind: it shows that dreams are both natural and supernatural.

Natural dreams are caused by physiological and psychological activity man, and the supernatural comes to people from two sources - from God and from Satan.
Ecclesiastes (5, 2) says that dreams come with many worries that burden our psyche so much. “...Even at night his heart does not know rest” (Eccl. 2:23). This wise preacher teaches not to attach great importance to dreams as vain visions. “For in many dreams, as in many words, there is much vanity; but fear God” (Eccl. 5:6). With awakening and coming labor day with his duties and urgent tasks, such dreams disappear like fog with the night, for they have no meaning (Ps. 72, 20; Is. 29, 7). Under the influx of new worries and thoughts, under the impression of fresh information, a person quickly forgets them.

Nights are considered a favorable time for visiting and revealing the will of God, and there are a lot of such references in the Bible (Gen. 15:12; 20:3; 28:10-12; 37:5; Matt. 1:20, etc.).
Thus, the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob received their revelations and instructions in a dream (Gen. 26:2-4; 46:2). The Lord spoke to Jacob in different ways, but the first time He spoke to him was in a dream, when Jacob fled from his brother to Haran and fell asleep on the way, placing a stone at his head. In a dream, the Lord appeared to him and confirmed the blessing that had been given to Abraham and Isaac, and now passed on to him. “The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. And your offspring will be like the sand of the earth...and all the families of the earth will be blessed in you and in your seed. And behold, I am with you.”(Gen. 28:13-15).

The righteous of God of all times used the silence of the night to communicate with the Lord. In the Psalms of David there are the following lines about this: “...Even at night my inwardness teaches me” (Ps. 15:7); “... and at night I have a song to Him, a prayer to the God of my life” (Ps. 41, 9). He meditates on God "in the night watch" (Ps. 62:7), finding answers to questions and edification for himself in this. Righteous Job indulges in reflections “about night visions, when sleep falls on people” (Job 4:13).

According to the book of Job (4.13; 7.14), dreams in those ancient times, when there was no Bible, the written word of God, were a special form of revelation and instruction of the Lord. Here is how Elihu explains it to the suffering Job: “God speaks one day, and if it is not noticed, another time: in a dream, in a vision of the night, when sleep falls on people, while drowsing on a bed. Then He opens a man's ear and seals his instruction to turn a man away from any undertaking and remove pride from him, to turn his soul from the abyss and his life from being cut by the sword ”(Job 33:14-18).

Moses spoke with the Lord mouth to mouth and “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:12-23). He spoke to other prophets in two ways: either by putting the message into their mouths, or by showing them visions and dreams. The prophet Jeremiah received his revelations through the Holy Spirit, but God revealed the fate of the Jewish people to him through a dream. “At the same time, I woke up and looked,” he writes, “and my dream was pleasant to me” (Jer. 31, 26).

Prophets of God, whose speeches and deeds are recorded in the Bible and whose books make up more than a quarter of the total Old Testament, were called to be conductors of the revelations of God. They make up only a small fraction of the people who are considered true prophets. Israel's problem was false prophets. They were ready to make any compromise, even go against the Truth and express what was pleasing to their patrons, i.e. the kings. The prophet Jeremiah (14:14) wrote: “And the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy false things in my name; I did not send them, nor give them orders, nor did I speak to them; they tell you false visions and tasks, and empty things and the dreams of their hearts.”

There were many false prophets (1 Kings 18:19; 22:6). They were very active, deceiving people with their false dreams: “I did not send these prophets, but they themselves ran ... They said: “I dreamed, I dreamed” ... Do they think to bring My people to forget My name through dreams of their own, which they retell to each other?.. The prophet who had a dream, let him tell it as a dream; but whoever has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What does chaff have in common with pure grain? - says the Lord ... "Behold, I am against the prophets of false dreams," says the Lord, "who tell them and lead My people astray with their deceptions and deceit, while I did not send them and did not command them..." ( Jeremiah 23:21-32).

This long passage from the prophet Jeremiah explains to us the fundamental difference between some dreams, as if “prophetic”, in which something “has been seen”, from those dreams where the Lord Himself speaks with the elect, the righteous and saints. The imaginary prophets, as it happens today, confused the people of Israel with their visions and prophecies. Some were hypocrites, others were cunning, others thought that they really see something and receive certain signs from God in visions. To them, these false prophets, something “seemed”, “imagined” in their dreams, which gave them a reason to then go out to people and say: “I dreamed.” That is, in this way, proclaim your vision as the will of God, just as the true prophets proclaimed it with authority and power. Both those and others, real and false prophets, claimed that God showed them His will in dreams, gave them His word to the people, instruction, choice. But, as the prophet Zechariah says: “those who see false things and tell false dreams” (Zech. 10, 2). Prophets, that is, false prophets, see such dreams that only seem to be prophetic, but in fact they do not come from God, but from the evil one. Already the Old Testament touches on this difference in true and false revelations. In the New Testament, the mouth of the Lord Himself draws a defining line: "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing" (Matthew 7:15); “not everyone who says to me: “Lord! Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:24).

The question of distinguishing between true and false visions will be with new force raised later, in patristic, ascetic writing, when this difference becomes truly a matter of life and death for monks and ascetics.

In the first centuries of God's leadership of the people of Israel, when the Lord patiently shepherded the chosen people, leading them through countries and peoples, the manifestation of God's will in dreams was frequent. In Scripture, it is repeatedly found: “God came to Abimelech in a dream” (Gen. 20, 3), “God came to Laban in a dream” (Gen. 31, 24), “The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream” (1 Kings 3, 5)... With the end of the era of the Old Testament and the onset of the New, the appearance of God in dreams is becoming less and less common. The Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, comes to earth - becomes human, and there is no need to turn to individual prophets chosen from among people, because the Lord Himself preaches the good news of salvation. Still pious Joseph, at the command of God, three times in a dream an angel of the Lord appeared with a revelation, instructing him not to be afraid to accept the Virgin Mary and that “what was born in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1, 20); ordering to flee to Egypt in order to save the life of the Divine Infant (Matt. 2:13), and, finally, after the lapse of time, to return back to the land of Israel (Matt. 2:19).

The Apostle Paul, in everything obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, also received revelations in a dream. To him in a vision "a certain man appeared" (Acts 16:9). He hears in a dream instruction from an angel of God (Acts 27:23). In a vision, the Lord strengthens him (Acts 18:9) and then orders him to go to preach in Rome (Acts 23:11).

It should be noted that in the New Testament, in comparison with the Old, if not the attitude towards dreams, then their role in the Providence of God changes. In the New Testament, dreams as a means of revelation from God lose their primary importance. If God uses dreams, then it is solely for the purpose of warning of danger, threat; in a word, in rare cases. In none of the apostolic letters do we find even a hint of the use of dreams as spiritual help or guidance. From the most important means of guidance and proclaiming the will of God, dreams become something private, concerning the fate of one person, even an apostle. The Spirit of God now speaks and acts through the Church, through the apostles and disciples of Christ.

About dreams in Orthodox asceticism

The key points that determine the entire spiritual life of an ascetic are the states of mind and heart. A true monk is called a spiritual warrior, and his military prowess lies, first of all, in being unceasingly on duty, that is, being awake in prayer, keeping his thoughts and feelings pure, reflecting all extraneous thoughts and attachments. Student of the Rev. Macarius of Egypt, the outstanding ascetic Evagrius of Pontus (4th century), repeatedly refers to the theme of dreams in his writings. It is noteworthy how deep the abyss separates the "specialist in dreams", the pagan Artemidorus, and the Christian ascetic and mentor of spiritual knowledge - the ascetic, Abba Evagrius. The difference is not only that the first is a pagan in his worldview, and the second is a Christian. The difference that we would like to point out to our readers first of all is in the spiritual in the most literal sense. For the pagan consciousness, dreams are external signs and allegories that foreshadow something, sent down from above, and a person has no choice but to accept their good or bad inevitability. Sometimes, with an appropriate interpretation, there is hope for a pagan to change his fate by a sacrifice that propitiates the deity. The pagan obediently surrenders to fate, accepting everything that can happen to him later as the fulfillment of the signs of sleep. The pagan is superstitious, he is entirely in the power of prophetic signs and therefore determines the relationship between the signs and events of his life. He is exclusively dependent, that is, not free - he is a plaything of dark, incomprehensible accidents that "fulfill" in him, and which he "fulfills" with his false faith in them.

A radically different attitude to the realm of dreams and images of sleep opens the Christian spiritual experience. According to Abba Evagrius, demons, as non-material beings, contribute to the generation of impure images that set passions in motion (On Thoughts, 25). Demons are spirits, and as spirits that have the ability to penetrate into the non-material sphere of consciousness, they are in a concrete way the creators of many of our dreams. In a dream, the will is dulled and control over attention is lost - an ordinary person, not an ascetic, completely surrenders to the power of sleep. The dreams that a person dreams of are generated in his mind, this fantasies(the term of Artemidorus), which can take any direction not only due to natural causes, for example, from illness or overeating, but also be changed and created under the influence of evil spirits - demons. And then dreams become instigations, suggestions, crafty temptations, nightmares, false prophetic signs and signs. A superstitious person perceives what he sees in such a dream as action is from above but the believer must accept them as activity of fallen spirits. And often dreams are not just complex pictures of images, reinforced by the power of emotions and feelings, but the actions of impure spirits that take possession of the sleeping consciousness.

According to the terminology of Abba Evagrius, a certain violent beginning is inherent in the soul, which is integral part human nature, that is, speaking in the usual language, it is characterized by passions that affect our free will. Demons seek sophisticated ways to influence the soul of the ascetic, trying in any way to sow confusion in it and set in motion curbed and mortified passions. Evagrius writes: “When demons confuse the furious beginning of the soul in a dream, they force us to walk along difficult mountain paths, bring armed men on us, poisonous snakes and carnivores." When they see that the ascetics are not afraid, they “immediately turn into women, obscenely coveting and craving to indulge in shameful games” (On Thoughts, 27). If the soul becomes confused, it becomes susceptible to temptations, notes Abba Evagrius. And further: “When the demons cannot confuse the violent and desirable beginnings of the soul at night, then they invent dreams, generated by vanity, and bring the soul down into the quagmire of thoughts. As an example of these demonic dreams, one can cite the following: often one sees himself in a dream either distributing punishment to demons, or healing some bodily ailments, or worthily wearing the vestments of a shepherd and tending his small verbal flock. And when he wakes up, he immediately begins to dream about how he will be ordained a priest... Or he dreams that he will be given the gift of healing... And often demons plunge hermits into uncontrollable sadness, showing them some of their relatives sick and in danger either on land or at sea...”

Evagrius distinguishes between demons that awaken vanity, noting that they tend to predict something, but the essence of these imaginary predictions is that they predict what they themselves are trying with all their might to realize - the temptation and fall of the ascetic. When this fails, they are vicious in every possible way. Perhaps one of the first Evagrius formulates the distinctive properties of angelic and demonic dreams. The demonic dream brings the heart into confusion; “angelic dreams are not at all like that: they give the soul clear peace, indescribable joy, deprive it of passionate thoughts during the day, bring pure prayer, quietly reveal the meaning of created things that are the Lord Himself, and reveal the Wisdom of the Lord”(On thoughts, 28). The definition given by the ascetic is the key to distinguishing dreams for every Christian.

The Sinai ascetic of the 7th century, the Monk Abbot John, nicknamed the Ladder in honor of the book of spiritual ascent of the same name, speaks of dreams as movements of the mind with the stillness of the body; they are a dream, a deception of the eyes in lulling thoughts (3, 25).

Rev. John continues the thought of Abba Evagrius, saying that "the demons of vanity are prophets in dreams." And it opens the mechanism of many so-called "prophetic dreams" - "being crafty, they (demons) conclude about the future from circumstances and announce it to us. (...) Who believes the demon, for those he is often a prophet; and whoever despises him, before them always turns out to be a liar. It is important to pay attention to this remark of the ascetic - the fulfillment of certain "prophetic dreams", dreams containing prophecies not from God, imaginary signs and signs depend directly on faith in them! If a person cowardly entrusts his will to these signs, accepting them as true, then he thereby drives himself into a trap, because the fallen spirits will apply all their strength and capabilities in order to embody them in action. Another property of demons, according to Ladder, is their omnipresence: “Like a spirit, he sees what happens in the air and, noticing, for example, that someone is dying, he predicts this to the gullible through a dream. The demons know nothing about the future by foreknowledge; but it is known that even doctors can predict death for us” (3, 27). Another important point in the distinction of dreams we find in the Ladder: if dreams lead to despair, then they are from demons (3, 28).

The Monk Gregory of Sinai, who was tonsured a monk on Mount Sinai and labored on Mount Athos in the 14th century, touching upon the reasons for the emergence of thoughts and dreams that are directly related to dreams, emphasizes: acrostics, 70). The demons fill the mind with images and fight depending on the inclination of the soul to active passion. “They in a dream and in a waking state show us something related to a rich and diverse fantasy” (Chapters ... 71). “Night itself is a region that gives birth to passions” (73). Therefore, as Abba Isaac the Syrian (7th century) says, “when you approach your bed, tell her: “this night, maybe you will be my coffin, bed; and I don’t know if this night will not come to me. , instead of temporary sleep, eternal, future dream". <...>He who spends one hour sighing for his soul is better than the one who brings benefit to the whole world with his contemplation. He who has been vouchsafed to see himself is better than he who has been vouchsafed to see angels” (Word 41).

Benoit Lecomte(Benoit Lecomte) was the first person to undertake such an adventure. His six-month and 5,500-mile swim will introduce people to the world's oceans from the inside.

The idea to swim across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to San Francisco came to Lecomte a few years ago. Since June 5 of this year, he spends eight hours a day in the water, overcoming the most big ocean planets. Benoit pursues not only sports goals. Part of the Swimming expedition are research projects in biology, oceanography and medicine that Lecomte and six of his support team are working with teams of researchers from NASA and the Oceanographic Institute at Woods Hole.

Swimmer

You may be familiar with his name. In 1998, Benoist became the first person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, starting from Massachusetts in the US and finishing in France, with a week-long stop in the Azores. That swim was dedicated to the memory of Father Lecomte and cancer research. The swimmer devoted four years to preparing for the current expedition.

“The ocean is in danger right now,” Lecomte says. We don't really know much about it. No one has yet collected data from one coast to another.”

By undertaking such an incredible journey, he hopes to raise public awareness of the human impact on the world's oceans.

Support

From Tokyo, Lecomte is escorted by Seeker, a yacht with six crew members, fully equipped for a semi-annual voyage. On it, the athlete rests after daily swimming sessions, in the same place, if necessary, he can get help. On the day, Lecomte swims about 30 nautical miles. Each morning Seeker uses GPS data to bring Benoit back to where he was picked up the night before. In addition to the usual swimming equipment - a suit, a mask with a snorkel and fins - the swimmer's arsenal includes an electromagnetic device that repels sharks and a biometric sensor. Data from the medical sensor feeds information about Lecomte's health to the crew and medical team on land.

Research

The athlete is equipped with research equipment, including a small radiation sensor to detect and measure contamination from the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. The team is also collecting data on plastic pollution in the Pacific. Lecomte will get to see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with his own eyes.

“This spot does not consist of large plastic elements, but of very small fragments,” says Lecomte, “so its real size is not visible from the satellite. The only way you can detect it is by casting a net and gauging its density. That way you know you're in the Pacific Garbage Patch."

By using modern technologies Benoit is involved in several medical studies. His health is monitored by doctors in Texas.

"We're very interested in studying the limits of the human body," says Benjamin Levin, PhD, Institute of Sports and Environmental Medicine. “Benoit and his experiment is a perfect example for us.”

You can follow the adventure of Benoît Lecomte at benlecomte.com , Seeker.com , Discovery Go and Instagram.
We give a description of several days that we remember from Lecomte's diary.

1 day. June 5, 2018
departure

This day was very emotionally charged: after so many years of preparation, I will finally make my dream come true. However, it is not easy to realize that I am leaving family and friends for such a long time. We swam the first 50 meters with my children, Anna and Max, then hugged in the water and said goodbye for a long time. I was left alone with my thoughts, reliving the moments before sailing. After an hour of swimming, the water temperature began to drop and it became less comfortable to swim. At five o'clock on the first day of the swim, Seeker colleagues reported a five-foot shark they had seen nearby. While our medic Max was paddling towards me in a kayak with predator-repellent equipment, I saw a three-foot shark swimming in the opposite direction right behind me. Having looked around and no longer seeing danger nearby, I continued to swim on. Max swam up in a kayak, measured my pulse and offered to finish for today. Well, six hours for the first day is not so bad. And tomorrow will be a new day.

Day 15 June 20
Unforeseen difficulties

This morning, a strong northeast wind blew again, raising large waves. Waves also came from the south. It was a rather strange combination, and it clearly worked against me. I had to put on an extra layer of swimming suit. Now I made more effort to swim, but it became much warmer. After my second hour on the water, I was wondering what my speed was. It turned out that it was only a little more than one node. I was upset - what's the point of sailing all day, and as a result, cover only a few miles, like yesterday. We tried to take a little to the south, but there was not much difference. Another hour passed - the speed increased by only a few knots. It was no good; I got even more upset. I had to interrupt the voyage for today ... I hope this weather will not last long.

Day 20 June 25
Good company

I didn't get much sleep today. When it was time to dive into the water, it began to rain. The first two hours of sailing, as usual, flew by unnoticed for me, but I was worried about T and Max, who accompanied me in a kayak, because the rain did not stop. Fortunately for us, a group of dolphins suddenly appeared, instantly raising our spirits. They allowed me to approach them, and for half a minute I swam in their flock - it was amazing! Sometimes they jumped out of the water, and I heard the delighted cries of Ti and Max. A little later we met another flock of dolphins, but these did not stay long. They must have been interested in the fish nailed to the bottom of the kayak. Such unique moments, lived together with loved ones, make them even more profound. It was a truly unforgettable day, thank you, friends.

21 day. June 26
Plastic

Maria, Seeker team: “While Ben continues to swim, we look after him and the crew of the boat, while at the same time watching the endless ocean around. But the picture is not only majestic, but, alas, sad: the ocean is full of garbage. Almost every minute we see something that should not be in the ocean - bottles, polystyrene, all kinds of plastic ... To be honest, I am horrified at the realization of how much a person affects environment especially since we don't notice it. And because we do not directly interact with the consequences of our activities, it is very easy to ignore them, pretending that everything is in order. I feel a great need to show people how big the problem is and how acute the issue of human responsibility to nature is now.

Whenever possible, we fish for some garbage and watch how sea ​​life adapts to it, as new ecosystems grow right before our eyes. On the one hand, this wonderful ability of nature to adapt to everything cannot but impress, but there is also a downside - Negative influence, the degree of which we cannot even measure yet.

With the help of GPS, we try to fix the location of especially large accumulations of debris.

It is interesting to understand how garbage gets into the ocean and what happens to it next. This may help to study the problem, but in order to solve it, we need to radically change the approach to consumption. And this is a personal matter for everyone - how much plastic they use, how they dispose of it, whether there is a need for disposable packaging at all, given the deplorable consequences of its use.

I'm sure that Ben with his crazy "Swim" is a great way to draw the attention of society to this problem and together try to solve it."

Day 27 July 2
curious turtle

Great weather again today. Early in the morning, Mark spotted a turtle to my right. She swam very close, looking at me. It was followed by a colony of about 20 fish. Having made an almost complete circle around me, the turtle and its retinue dived into the depths and disappeared without a trace. A couple of hours later we saw them again, but not so close. In the evening we noticed dolphins, but they did not allow us to swim up to them.

Day 45 July 20
Nausea

That morning was bad weather, and, judging by the forecasts, no improvement was expected. Harsh gusts of wind and rain Better conditions for swimming, so Max suggested that I take a moment to rest and eat my fill, which I did. But I was not used to being on a yacht that was being tossed about by the waves, and I began to feel sick. There is a big difference - to be in a rough sea in the water or on a yacht. In the second case, the body is forced to adapt to the rhythm of the boat, which can be rather unpleasantly tossed on the waves, while in the water the same waves raise and lower you quite gently. Therefore, in harsh seas, I have to get used to being on board for a while, and sometimes, as now, this is accompanied by nausea.

Day 48 July 23
The appearance of whales

"Whales!" Max shouted, pointing overboard. Paul was at the helm this morning, I was on deck with him. The whole crew gathered at the top in an instant, and Paul turned the yacht around to where the spray was coming from. We all watched a magnificent picture: birds were circling above the water, and whales were splashing under the water, sending up jets of water. Paul brought the yacht to a halt nearby, and in less than a minute, a jet rose from the water a few meters away. Max grabbed his GoPro and jumped into the water.
These shots are some of the best of our trip.

Day 64 August 7
Communication with the ocean

When I swim in the heart of the ocean, I do not need Wi-Fi, because there is a more subtle connection here. In our age of the Internet and social networks We often forget how important it is to be alone with ourselves for a while. In this regard, I was lucky to be in the company of the ocean most of the day. This is important to me because I can ask myself a lot of important questions. How can I best express what I'm experiencing? How to make people hear the real voice of the ocean? I have never felt so close to this unknown watery universe, and I hope I will be able to convey this feeling to people. Perhaps together we can find a way to protect him.

Day 65 8 August
What am I striving for?

I am not against plastic, I am for a responsible attitude to its use. I would not like to put an extra burden on the shoulders of the next generation. Like many today, I try to cut down on the amount of packaging I buy. And yet, probably not ready to completely abandon plastic in Everyday life. But what I see in the ocean today makes me really think about how to solve this problem. I hope that those who read this blog hear me.

Almost 95% of all water on Earth is salty and unusable. It is made up of seas, oceans and salt lakes. Collectively, all this is called the World Ocean. Its area is three-quarters of the entire area of ​​the planet.

The oceans - what is it?

Sand in the ocean. Photo by Oleg Patrin.

The names of the oceans have been familiar to us since elementary school. This is the Pacific, otherwise called the Great, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. All of them together are called the World Ocean. Its area is more than 350 million km2. This is the largest area even on a planetary scale. The continents divide the World Ocean into four oceans known to us. Each of them has its own characteristics, its own unique undersea world, which varies depending on climate zone, temperature of currents and bottom topography. The map of the oceans shows that they are all interconnected. None of them is surrounded by land on all sides.

The science that studies the oceans is oceanology

In Britannica Escola. Cousteau Society-The Image Bank/Getty Images

The continents divide the World Ocean into four oceans known to us. Each of them has its own characteristics, its own unique underwater world, which changes depending on the climatic zone, the temperature of the currents and the bottom topography. The map of the oceans shows that they are all interconnected. None of them is surrounded by land on all sides. The science that studies the oceans is oceanology How do we know that seas and oceans exist? Geography is a school subject that introduces us to these concepts for the first time. But a special science, oceanology, is engaged in a deeper study of the oceans. She considers the expanses of water as a holistic natural object, studies the biological processes occurring inside it, and its relationship with other constituent elements of the biosphere. This science ocean depths are studied in order to achieve such goals: increasing the efficiency and ensuring the safety of underwater and surface navigation; optimization of the use of minerals from the ocean floor; maintaining the biological balance of the oceanic environment; improvement of meteorological forecasts.

How did the modern names of the oceans come about?

Name for everyone geographical feature is not just given. Any name has certain historical background or is associated with characteristic features one territory or another. Let's find out when and how the names of the oceans originated and who came up with them.

coast of the atlantic ocean

Atlantic Ocean. The works of the ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo described this ocean, calling it Western. Later, some scientists called it the Hesperid Sea. This is confirmed by a document dated 90 BC. Already in the ninth century AD, Arab geographers voiced the name "Sea of ​​Darkness", or "Sea of ​​Darkness". The Atlantic Ocean received such a strange name because of the clouds of sand and dust that the winds constantly blowing from the African continent raised above it. For the first time, the modern name sounded in 1507, after Columbus reached the shores of America. Officially, such a name was fixed in geography in 1650 in the scientific works of Bernhard Waren.

Pacific Ocean. community islands.

Pacific Ocean. was named so by the Spanish navigator Ferdinand Magellan. Despite the fact that it is quite stormy and there are often storms and tornadoes, during the expedition of Magellan, which lasted a year, there was constantly good weather, there was a calm, and this was the reason to think that the ocean was really quiet and calm. When the truth was revealed, no one began to rename the Pacific Ocean. In 1756, the famous traveler and explorer Bayush suggested calling him the Great, as it largest ocean of all. To this day, both of these names are used.

"Deathfinger" (Dead Finger)
In the Arctic, there are some rather unusual icicles under water that can harm the inhabitants of the ocean. Salt from glaciers descends to the bottom in thin streams, freezing sea water around it. Further, the finger of death can continue to crawl along the bottom. In just 15 minutes, a brinicle can trap sea dwellers in an ice trap that didn't swim away in time.

Reason to name Arctic Ocean became a lot of ice floes drifting in its waters, and, of course, geographical position. His second name - Arctic - comes from the Greek word "arktikos", which means "northern".

White sand beaches of the Indian Ocean

With title indian ocean everything is extremely simple. India is one of the first countries known to the ancient world. The waters that wash its banks were named after her.

four oceans

How many oceans are on the planet? This question seems to be the simplest, but for many years it has caused discussions and disputes among oceanologists. The standard list of oceans looks like this:

1. Quiet.
2. Indian.
3. Atlantic.
4. Arctic.

The characteristics of the oceans are different depending on many factors, although it may seem that they are all the same. Let's get acquainted with each of them and find out the most important information about all of them.

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean. Map.

It is also called the Great, because it has the largest area among all. The Pacific Ocean basin occupies a little less than half the area of ​​​​all the world's water spaces and is equal to 179.7 million km². The composition includes 30 seas: Japan, Tasmanovo, Javanese, South China, Okhotsk, Philippine, New Guinea, Savu Sea, Halmahera Sea, Koro Sea, Mindanao Sea, Yellow, Visayan Sea, Aki Sea, Solomonovo, Bali Sea, Samair Sea, Coral, Banda, Sulu, Sulawesi, Fiji, Moluckoe, Komotes, Seram Sea, Flores Sea, Sibuyan Sea, East China Sea, Bering Sea, Amudesena Sea. All of them occupy 18% of the total area of ​​the Pacific Ocean. It is also the leader in terms of the number of islands. There are about 10 thousand of them. Most big islands the Pacific is New Guinea and Kalimantan. The subsoil of the seabed contains more than a third of the world's natural gas and oil reserves, the active production of which occurs mainly in the shelf zones of China, the United States of America and Australia. There are many transport routes across the Pacific Ocean connecting the countries of Asia with South and North America.

Atlantic Ocean

Relief map of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

It is the second largest in the world, and this is clearly demonstrated by the map of the oceans. Its area is 93,360 thousand km2. The Atlantic Ocean basin contains 13 seas. All of them have coastline. An interesting fact is that in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is the fourteenth sea - Sargasovo, called the sea without coasts. Its boundaries are ocean currents. It is considered the largest sea in the world in terms of area. Another feature of this ocean is the maximum inflow fresh water which provide major rivers Northern and South America, Africa and Europe. In terms of the number of islands, this ocean is the complete opposite of the Pacific. There are very few of them here. But precisely in Atlantic Ocean located the largest island on the planet - Greenland - and the most remote island - Bouvet. Although sometimes Greenland is ranked among the islands of the Arctic Ocean.

Indian Ocean

Relief map of the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Interesting facts about the third largest ocean will make us wonder even more. The Indian Ocean was the first known and explored. He is the custodian of the largest complex of coral reefs. The waters of this ocean hold a secret mysterious phenomenon, has not yet been adequately explored. The fact is that luminous circles periodically appear on the surface. correct form. According to one version, this is the glow of plankton rising from the depths, but their ideal spherical shape is still a mystery. Not far from the island of Madagascar, you can observe the only one of its kind a natural phenomenon- underwater waterfall Now some facts about Indian Ocean. Its area is 79,917 thousand km2. The average depth is 3711 m. It washes 4 continents and has 7 seas. Vasco da Gama is the first explorer to swim across the Indian Ocean.

Arctic Ocean.

Map of the Arctic Ocean.

It is the smallest and coldest of all oceans. Area - 13,100 thousand km2. It is also the shallowest, the average depth of the Arctic Ocean is only 1225 m. It consists of 10 seas. By the number of islands, this ocean ranks second after the Pacific. The central part of the ocean is covered with ice. In the southern regions, floating ice floes and icebergs are observed. Sometimes you can find whole ice floating islands with a thickness of 30-35 m. It was here that the infamous Titanic crashed, colliding with one of them. Despite the harsh climate, the North Arctic Ocean is a habitat for many species of animals: walruses, seals, whales, gulls, jellyfish and plankton.

depth of the oceans

We already know the names of the oceans and their features. But what is the deepest ocean? Let's look into this issue. Contour map oceans and the ocean floor shows that the bottom relief is as diverse as the relief of the continents. Under the thickness of the sea water, deepenings, depressions and elevations like mountains are hidden. The average depth of all four oceans taken together is 3700 m. The Pacific Ocean is considered the deepest, the average depth of which is 3980 m, followed by the Atlantic - 3600 m, followed by the Indian - 3710 m. The last in this list, as already mentioned, is the Arctic Ocean, the average depth of which is only 1225 m.

Salt is the main feature of ocean waters.

The Dead Sea is the saltiest sea in the world.

Everyone knows how the water of the seas and oceans differs from fresh river water. Now we will be interested in such a characteristic of the oceans as the amount of salt. If it seems to you that the water is equally salty everywhere, you are very much mistaken. Salt concentrations in ocean waters can vary greatly, even within a few kilometers. Average salinity ocean waters- 35 ‰. If we consider this indicator separately for each ocean, then the Arctic Ocean is the least salty of all: 32 ‰. Pacific Ocean - 34.5 ‰. The salt content of the water is low due to a large number rainfall, especially in equatorial zone. Indian Ocean - 34.8 ‰. Atlantic - 35.4 ‰. It is important to note that bottom waters have a lower salt concentration than surface waters. The saltiest seas of the World Ocean are the Red Sea (41 ‰), the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf(up to 39 ‰).

The movement of water in the ocean

Ocean Current Circulation

In the oceans, it is possible to distinguish parts that are in constant motion, they are called sea currents. In the sea, the currents are less pronounced, the largest are in the ocean. The currents are varied: they can go on the surface or at depth, they can be colder than the calm water surrounding them, or they can be warmer, they can be permanent or seasonal. There are several reasons for the appearance of currents and, depending on this current, they can be divided into groups:

1. Density. Water with different salinity has different density. Due to the difference in densities, currents are formed (from an area with a higher density to an area with a lower one).
2. Waste and compensation. In different regions of the oceans different level water. Waste currents are formed when water flows from areas with a high level to an area with a lower level. Compensatory currents are formed when the departed water is replaced.
3. Drift and wind - are formed under the influence of winds: drift - constantly blowing, wind - seasonal.
4. Ebb and flow. The water of the World Ocean reacts to the attraction of the moon, resulting in tidal and ebb currents that occur once a day. In that part the globe, which is closer to the moon, high tide, and the other - low tide.

Currents influence the climate of coastal areas. So sewer currents pass by the eastern coasts of the continents, they are directed from the equator, they are warmer than the water around them, and they carry warm, humid air with them. Such currents moderate the climate of the coastal regions. Compensatory currents pass by the western coasts of the continents, they are colder than the waters surrounding them, they bring with them quite dry air. Compensatory currents are one of the reasons that deserts often appear on the western shores of the continents.

World ocean records

• The deepest place in the World Ocean is the Mariinsky Trench, its depth is 11,035 m from the surface water level.
• If we consider the depth of the seas, then the Philippine sea is considered the deepest. Its depth reaches 10,540 m.
• In second place in this indicator is the Coral Sea with maximum depth at 9140 m.
• The largest ocean is the Pacific. Its area is larger than the area of ​​the entire earth's land.
• The most salty sea is the Red Sea. It is located in the Indian Ocean. Salty water well supports all objects falling into it, and to drown in this sea, you need to try very hard.
• The most mysterious place is located in the Atlantic Ocean, and its name is the Bermuda Triangle. It is associated with many legends and mysteries.
• The most poisonous sea ​​creature It's a blue-ringed octopus. He lives in the Indian Ocean.
• The largest accumulation of corals in the world - Big barrier reef is located in the Pacific Ocean.