The ancient Greeks regarded the gulf as one of the most important parts of the "Erythraean Sea". It later came to be dominated by Muslims, as the area around the gulf converted toIslam. From the late 1960s onwards, there was an increasedSoviet naval presence in the Gulf. The importance of the Gulf of Aden declined while theSuez Canal was closed, but it was revitalized when the canal was reopened in 1975, after being deepened and widened by theEgyptian government.[citation needed]
Despite a lack of large-scale commercial fishing facilities, the coastline supports many isolated fishing towns and villages. The Gulf of Aden is richly supplied with fish, turtles, and lobsters.[6] Local fishing takes place close to the shore; sardines, tuna, kingfish, and mackerel make up the bulk of the annual catches. Crayfish and sharks are also fished locally.[citation needed]
Inantiquity, theancient Greeks viewed what is now called the Gulf of Aden as an extension of theErythraean Sea (Red Sea)Ancient Greek:Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα,Erythrà Thálassa. They named several of the islands in the gulf, including one they called Stratonis, although it is no longer clear which Greek name referred to which island.[7][8]
InAbu'l-Fida'sA Sketch of the Countries (Arabic:تقويم البلدان), the present-day Gulf of Aden was called the Gulf of Berbera, which shows how importantBerbera was in both regional and international trade during the medieval period.[9][10]
Legendary navigatorIbn Majid also referred to the Gulf of Aden as the Gulf of Berbera in his 15th century magnum opusThe Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship.[11] Berbera has been a prominent port since antiquity.[12]
TheGulf of Tadjoura is part of the Gulf of Aden, forming its western end.
Hydrography
The temperature of the Gulf of Aden varies between 15 °C (59 °F) and 28 °C (82 °F), depending on the season and themonsoons. Thesalinity of the gulf at 10 metres (33 ft) depth varies from 35.3‰ along the eastern Somali coast to as high as 37.3 ‰ in the gulf's center,[14] while its oxygen content at the same depth is typically between 4.0 and 5.0 mg/L.[14]
After the collapse of the Roman economy, direct trade ceased but theAwsan I portCrater, located just south of the modern city of Aden, remained an important regional center. In late antiquity and the early medieval period, there were several invasions of Yemen fromEthiopia; after the rise of Islam, the gulf permitted repeated migrations of northwest Africa by Arab settlers.
In the first decade of the 2000s, especially during thewar in Somalia, the gulf evolved into a hub ofpirate activity. By 2013, attacks in the waters had steadily declined due to private security and international navy patrols.[19] India receives US$50 billion in imports – and sends US$60 billion in exports – through this area annually. To protect its trade and that of other countries, India keeps a warship escort in the area.[20]
Ecology
A geologically young body of water, the Gulf of Aden has a uniquebiodiversity that includes many varieties offish,coral,seabirds andinvertebrates. This rich ecological diversity has benefited from a relative lack ofpollution by humans in the past. However, environmental groups fear that the lack of a coordinated effort to control pollution may jeopardize the gulf'secosphere.[21]Whales,dolphins, anddugongs[22] were once common[23] before being severely reduced by commercial hunts, including by mass illegal hunts by the Soviet Union and Japan in the 1960s and 1970s.[24] The now critically endangered Arabianhumpback whales were once seen here in large numbers,[25] but only a few large whales still appear in the gulf waters, includingBryde's whales,[26]blue whales,[27] and deep-sea toothed whales such assperm whales[28] andtropical bottlenose whales.[29]
^Michael Hodd,East Africa Handbook, 7th Edition, (Passport Books: 2002), p. 21: "To the north are the countries of the Horn of Africa comprising Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, "
^Lytle, Ephraim. "Early Greek and Latin Sources on the Indian Ocean and Eastern Africa." Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2016. 113-134.
^"Yemen".www.sailingluna.nl.Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved2016-02-26.
^Anderson, R. C.; Clark, R.; Madsen, P. T.; Johnson, C.; Kiszka, J.; Breysse, O. (2006). "Observations of Longman's Beaked Whale (Indopacetus pacificus) in the Western Indian Ocean".Aquatic Mammals.32 (2):223–231.Bibcode:2006AqMam..32..223A.doi:10.1578/AM.32.2.2006.223.
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