~ Horse Latitudes ~
one of the darkest and, at the same time, most poetic oceanographic terms I know ...
Image: 'Subversion' by Miriam Sweeney
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Conversation
'These are what are called the horse latitudes. It was here that navigators of bygone ages were accustomed to cast their horses into the sea to lighten the ship in stormy weather, and to economize the fresh water when becalmed.'
('The Toilers of the Sea: A Novel', Victor Hugo)
Replying to
However, this can't be completely right, since the horse latitudes are zones of high subtropical atmospheric pressures, located on both sides of the Earth's equator. They have mostly calm winds, too calm sometimes: that was the problem ...
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