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, the earth's crust movement had moved the basin close enough to the Indonesian and Philippinevolcanoes to receive emitted debris.[3] By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including coal, which was shed from a growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia.
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 Mindanao Sea) and Indonesia be south of the boundary line (named Celebes Sea).[4][5][6]
On the West. The East coast of Borneo is 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 corals, which grow as some of the most bio-diverse coral reefs in the world, and an impressive array of marine life, including whales and dolphins, sea turtles, manta rays, eagle rays, barracuda, marlin and other reef and pelagic species. Tuna and yellowfin tuna are also abundant. In addition to the 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 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. Several seismic surveys and research drillings were done in this area to gather geological information.