The Gulf of Mexico covers a surface area of 579,153 sq miles (1.5 million sq km), and is measured 994 miles (1,600 km) west to east, and 559 miles (900 km) north to south.
After travelling from the aorta, blood travels through peripheral arteries into smaller arteries called arterioles, and eventually to capillaries. Arterioles help in regulating blood pressure by the variable contraction of the smooth muscle of their walls, and deliver blood to the capillaries.
1 Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to all of the body's tissues. 2  They branch several times, becoming smaller and smaller as they carry blood farther from the heart and into organs. 3  Capillaries. 4  These are small, thin blood vessels that connect the arteries and the veins. Arteries. 2  Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to all of the body's tissues. 3  They branch several times, becoming smaller and smaller as they carry blood farther from the heart and into organs.