Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico.

"Arabella! What are you doing on a boat...a barely seaworthy one at that..."
"Hey!"
"...in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico with...sailors who are barely older then boys..."

―Laura Smith and Jack Sparrow

The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) was an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It was bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of North America; on the southwest and south by Mexican territories like Yucatán; and on the southeast by Cuba. The southern American territories of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida also bordered the gulf on the north. It was connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the straits of Florida between North America and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the gulf experienced very small tidal ranges.

History

The Gulf of Mexico was found at some point prior to the Age of Piracy, where it was depicted on the Mao Kun Map, a Chinese allegory map that led to spiritual realms and legends of the land beyond death, notably as the navigational chart to the Farthest Gate. Using meridian arcs, geographic landmarks and magic keys to guide one's passage, the Gulf of Mexico would notably be seen as the map revealed the pathway to the Fountain of Youth.

Young Jack Sparrow and the crew of the mighty Barnacle sailed across the Gulf of Mexico during their quest to retreive the Sun-and-Stars amulet from the thief who stole it from the Mayan village in the Yucatán Peninsula. During the journey they discovered an entire ship magically turned into bronze by the power of the amulet. A few days later, with the amulet in their possession, the crew sailed from New Orleans across the Gulf again. This time they encountered a pirate galleon, the Fleur de la Mort, captained by Laura Smith, the mother of their crewmember Arabella Smith.

The shipwreck that Will Turner believed to be Davy Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman.

Many years later, Jack Sparrow sailed the Black Pearl to the Gulf of Mexico in search for Davy Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman, in an attempt to escape his debt to Jones. Through a spell cast on crab claws by the soothsayer Tia Dalma to reveal the direction, the Black Pearl sailed to an archipelago that matched the outline of the claws on Tia Dalma's table, where a scuttled ship lay on the shoals, the main deck slanted into the sea, located in the middle of the Gulf. However, as Will Turner searched the shipwreck, the real Flying Dutchman arose from the sea to capture the scuttled ship's crewmen. Shortly afterwards, when finding Will among the dead and dying crew, Davy Jones appeared in front of Jack Sparrow aboard the Black Pearl, where they agreed that Sparrow had to collect 99 souls in three days for Jones.

Behind the scenes

• The name "Gulf of Mexico" first appeared in the 2006 book Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze by Rob Kidd. Although the archipelago and the scuttled ship in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was described as being located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea through Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay as well as the film's junior novelization by Irene Trimble, the exact location was never clarified in the film itself. It may be considered that the Gulf of Mexico first appeared in Dead Man's Chest, due to the location of the scuttled ship in the world map featured in PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 versions of the video game adaptation for At World's End.
• The Sunset was a 109-foot-long boat and unglamorous craft which once serviced oil derricks in the Gulf of Mexico. This was prior to its renown fame of appearing in the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise as the Black Pearl in Dead Man's Chest and At World's End as well as the Queen Anne's Revenge in On Stranger Tides.
• In Terry Rossio's original script for Dead Men Tell No Tales, the film's story was planned to end with the Black Pearl sailing across the Gulf of Mexico, with Hector Barbossa and some crewmembers later planning another mutiny against Jack Sparrow.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze (First identified as Gulf of Mexico)
• Jack Sparrow: Silver
• Jack Sparrow: City of Gold
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Map only)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Map only)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

External links

• Gulf of Mexico on Wikipedia