A mile on the ocean and on land are not the same distance

While it seems counterintuitive, a mile on land and a mile on the water are not the same distance. A mile on land is based on a measurement of paces, while a mile on the sea, commonly known as a ‘nautical mile’, is based on degrees of latitude around the globe. This difference in measurements ends up with approximately a 700-foot difference between the miles, with a land mile measuring at 5300 feet and a nautical mile measuring at 6000 feet.