Ocean Currents Map

How to read the map

Each line is a major surface current, drawn in the direction the water flows. Red lines are warm currents Warm current. A current that flows from the equator toward the poles, mostly along the east coasts of continents, and carries warm tropical water. Source and blue lines are cold currents Cold current. A current that flows toward the equator, mostly along the west coasts of continents, and brings cool water from the polar regions. Source . Use the switches to show only one kind or to hide the names. The paths follow the NOAA Ocean Service figure of the five ocean gyres and are drawn by hand, so they show the general route of each current, not its exact position on a given day.

Gyres and boundary currents

A gyre Gyre. A large system of rotating ocean currents. There are five major gyres: the North and South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. Source is a large system of rotating ocean currents. NOAA counts five major gyres: the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific and Indian Ocean gyres. The Coriolis effect turns currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, so gyres there spin clockwise, and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, so gyres there spin counterclockwise. Gyres do not form at the equator, where the Coriolis effect is not present.

Each gyre is flanked by a strong, narrow western boundary current and a weak, broad eastern boundary current. The Gulf Stream is the best known western boundary current. It starts in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Strait of Florida and follows the coast of the United States and Newfoundland, paired on the far side of the North Atlantic gyre with the Canary Current.

Currents are driven by tides, wind and thermohaline circulation. Where wind pushes surface water away from a coast, deep, cold, nutrient-rich water rises to replace it. This upwelling feeds some of the richest fishing grounds in the ocean. The Gulf Stream moves at an average of about 6.4 km/h and carries more water than all the world's rivers combined. For the plates under the oceans, see the tectonic plates map.

Major ocean currents

• Gulf Stream warm Western boundary current of the North Atlantic gyre. It starts in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Strait of Florida and follows the US east coast and Newfoundland.
• North Atlantic Current warm Carries water from the Gulf Stream east across the North Atlantic toward Europe.
• Norwegian Current warm Northern branch of the North Atlantic flow, along the coast of Norway.
• Canary Current cold Eastern boundary current of the North Atlantic gyre, paired with the Gulf Stream.
• North Equatorial Current warm Flows west north of the equator in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
• Labrador Current cold Flows south from the Arctic along the coast of Labrador toward Newfoundland.
• East Greenland Current cold Flows south along the east coast of Greenland.
• Equatorial Counter Current warm Flows east near the equator, between the two equatorial currents.
• South Equatorial Current warm Flows west south of the equator in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
• Brazil Current warm Western boundary current of the South Atlantic gyre, along the coast of Brazil.
• Benguela Current cold Eastern boundary current of the South Atlantic gyre, along southwest Africa.
• Agulhas Current warm Western boundary current of the Indian Ocean gyre, along southeast Africa.
• Somali Current warm Flows along the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.
• West Australian Current cold Eastern boundary current of the Indian Ocean gyre, along western Australia.
• East Australian Current warm Western boundary current of the South Pacific gyre, along eastern Australia.
• Kuroshio Current warm Western boundary current of the North Pacific gyre, along Japan.
• Oyashio Current cold Flows south from the subarctic Pacific toward northern Japan.
• North Pacific Current warm Carries water east across the North Pacific toward North America.
• California Current cold Eastern boundary current of the North Pacific gyre, along the US west coast.
• Alaskan Current warm Flows north and west along the Gulf of Alaska.
• Peru Current cold Eastern boundary current of the South Pacific gyre, along western South America.
• Antarctic Circumpolar Current (West Wind Drift) cold Flows east around Antarctica, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
• East Wind Drift cold Flows west close to the coast of Antarctica.