portuguese was the first european country to launch long ocean voyages of exploration.
portuguese was the first european country to launch long ocean voyages of exploration.
what was the first european country to launch long ocean voyages of exploration?
portuguese
for centuries spain had claimed the entire pacific coast of north and south america. this claim was based on a number of events. in 1493 pope alexander vi had issued the "inter caetera" papal bull, dividing the western hemisphere into spanish and portuguese zones, based on the discovery of the americas in 1492, in theory granting nearly the entire new world to spain. this was further defined in the 1494 treaty of tordesillas. more importantly, in 1513 spanish explorer balboa crossed the isthmus of panama and became the first european to sight the pacific ocean from the americas, formally laying claim to all the shores washed by the pacific ocean. as the years went by new criteria for determining sovereignty evolved in european international law, including "prior discovery" and "effective occupation". spain made claims of prior discovery for the northwest coast of north america through voyages of cabrillo in 1542, ferrer in 1543, and vizcaino in 1602–03. before the early 17th century, these voyages had not reached north of the 44th parallel, and spain had no "effective settlement" north of mexico. thus when, in the mid-18th century, the russians began to explore alaska and establish fur trading posts, spain responded by building a new naval base at san blas, mexico, and using it for sending a series of exploration and reconnaissance voyages to the far northwest. these voyages, intended to ascertain the russian threat and to establish "prior discovery" claims, were supplemented by the "effective settlement" of alta california. starting in 1774, spanish expeditions were sent to northern canada and alaska to reassert spain's claims and navigation rights in the area. by 1775 spanish exploration had reached bucareli bay including the mouth of the columbia river between present-day oregon and washington, and sitka sound.
nootka crisis
ocean voyages institute a california 501(c) 3 organization currently operates the vessel kaisei and she serves as the figurehead and expedition ship of "project kaisei" which is an international program dedicated to implementing solutions to the problem of marine debris. 









































in august 2009, "kaisei" embarked from san francisco on a month-long voyage for the ocean voyages institute as part of "project kaisei", a mission to study the great pacific garbage patch. she returned again in 2010 to the north pacific gyre and also took part in a variety of educational and awareness events.









































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kaisei (ship)