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.
Arteries (from Greek á¼ÏÏÎ·ÏÎ¯Î± (artÄria), meaning windpipe, artery) are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. While most arteries carry oxygenated blood, there are two exceptions to this, the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries.