This navigational chart, which is one sheet in the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency's world hydrographic chart series, shows the waters along the southeastern coast of the United States. In this part of the Atlantic Ocean, there is a warm ocean current, known as the Gulf Stream, which flows north from the Caribbean Sea along the east coast of the United States across the North Atlantic to Europe. Historically, the current provided the major route for European ships, especially Spanish galleons, returning from their Central American, Mexican, and West Indian colonies to Europe.