Word Origin & History. amber mid-14c., ambergris, from O.Fr. ambre, from M.L. ambar, from Arabic 'anbar amber, a word brought home to Europe by the Crusaders. The sense was extended to fossil resin c.1400, which has become the main sense as the use of ambergris has waned. This formerly was known as white or yellow amber. In Fr., they are distinguished as ambre gris and amber jaune. Cf. also electric.
It depends on how closely he needs to describe the location. One degree of latitude is one nautical mile or about 6000 feet, so one second is about 100 feet. The fractions of a second are pretty useless, but degrees, minutes, and seconds are reasonable.
Four hundred meters is the equivalent of about 1,312 feet. One meter equals approximately 3.28 feet, so multiplying 400 meters by 3.28 feet per meter gives the equivalent of feet. Since 5,280 feet equal 1 mile, 400 meters is only slightly less than 1/4 mile.