is the florida current the gulf stream?

Some one told me the florida current was the gulf stream but i asked some other guys and got differnet answers. what are the currents we see off florida?

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

The surface currents...

Carribbean Current

Yucatan Current

Loop Current

Florida Current

Antilles

Gulf Stream Current

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

You can also see them in Supermap & SeaView:

(these are today)

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:48 am Post subject:

The Florida current and the Gulf Stream are one in the same.
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Formerly Spineyman

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:03 pm Post subject:

The images Amanda posted show the Florida and Gulf stream currents differently. The one that is marked the Florida current depicts the normal flow of the gulf stream warm water. The warm water usually dies out off the coast of NC, not sure if it is still considered the gulfstream when it cools and keeps going like depicted in her image marked Gulf Stream.
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"Pamela Jane"
Sea Pro 238CC

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

We just call it the "gulf stream" or "stream" but if you get real technical its the "Florida Current" for most of us on the East Coast, FL to NC.

Here's a read from Don Hammond that explains it pretty well:

http://dolphintagging.homestead.com/May08Nwsltr.pdf

Do You Fish the Gulf Stream Current?

I have to admit that I have never fished in the GulfStream Current.If you are fishing the blue offshore waters from KeyWest, Florida, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, you arenot fishing the actual Gulf Stream Current. According toa University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine andAtmospheric Science (RSMAS) Web site, you arefishing in the Florida Current. When I started the study of dolphinfish I really did notplan for a sub-study of oceanography, namely oceancurrents. However, it quickly became apparent that youcan not study a highly migratory oceanic species withouta study of their environment as well. You can say that Iam in my “Ocean Currents 101” class.

The first thingyou learn is that these energy systems are very dynamicand are constantly changing.Most people believe that the Gulf Stream Currentcircles the entire North Atlantic Ocean. It does not.According to researchers with Cooperative Institute ofMarine and Atmospheric Studies at RSMAS, the actualGulf Stream Current begins east of Cape Hatteras andextends eastward into the Atlantic ending in the area eastof 50oW longitude around 40oN latitude. However, theterm “Gulf Stream” is generally applied to a system ofcurrents.The Gulf Stream System begins in the southeasternislands of the Caribbean Sea with the Caribbean Currentfed by the westward-flowing North Equatorial Currentthat crosses the Atlantic. The Caribbean Current runsfrom the southeastern islands west and north past theYucatan Peninsula. There it forms the basis of the LoopCurrent in the Gulf of Mexico. The Loop Current Image Courtesy of University of Miami, RSMAS.The Gulf Stream System is one of the major AtlanticOcean currents traversing thousands of miles from theLesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea to the middle of thenorthern Atlantic Ocean. exits the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Florida Strait. Ata point southwest of Key West, Florida, this currentbecomes known as the Florida Current. It is the FloridaCurrent that flows northward along the South AtlanticBight (Florida east coast, Georgia, South Carolina andNorth Carolina) up to Cape Hatteras. This is the oceancurrent that we have been fishing all these years as theGulf Stream. At the end of the southeastern finger of the actualGulfStream Current is the origin of the Azores Current,which flows southeasterly past the Azores Islands towardthe Canary Islands. The ending of the Azores Currentforms the origin of the Canary Current, which flows southtowards the equator. There it ends at the NorthEquatorial Current that runs west across the Atlantic tothe southern Caribbean islands. If dolphinfish are goingto make circum-Atlantic migrations, this could be theroute that they may use.To learn more about the major ocean surface currentsvisit the University of Miami’s Web site, http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/index.html


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