North Sea Currents. ] 1 



English Channel to its narrow eastern end ; whilst the Gulf- 

 Stream immediately thereafter forces the current round the 

 north of Scotland, and carries the mass of the North Sea waters 

 along the English east coast towards the Kentish promontory, 

 where, blocked, it rushes in volume up river. 



4. Fish and North Sea Currents. How these marine currents 

 and aerial perturbations affect the South-east Anglian fish- 

 eries receives elucidation from various sources. Though the 

 North Sea has been fished for centuries, yet it is only 30 years ago 

 since its hydrography and biology have been systematically 

 studied as bearing on fishery questions ; but there is still much 

 to learn. The German Fish Commission (1872-73) led the 

 way, and other exploring expeditions followed, in which 

 Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Britain have taken part. 



The Fishery Board for Scotland instituted a series of ex- 

 periments to ascertain the direction taken by some thousands 

 of drift-bottles thrown into various parts of the North Sea. 

 From the data thus furnished, Dr. Fulton* goes on to show that 

 the surface water of the North Atlantic in the neighbourhood of 

 the Orkneys veers southwards along the Scotch and English 

 coasts to as far as the Wash. Thence it trends across towards 

 the north of Holland, where it once more changes its course 

 northwards along the coasts of Denmark and Norway. 



In brief, these drift-bottles demonstrated a U-shaped 

 circulation of the surface water in the North Sea. Only on 

 one occasion during a long spell of S.E. winds did the drifters 

 show a tendency to reversal of direction. It is further worthy 

 of remark that none of the drift-bottles crossed southwards of 

 the supposed limits of the ancient " delta-land " as heretofore 

 defined. 



Mr. Grarstangf has made similar experiments to test the 

 direction of the English Channel currents, starting the floats 



* " The Currents of the North Sea and their relations to Fisheries," 15th Ann. 

 Rep. for 1896, and 14th Rep., 1805. About the same time Prof. Herdman, of Liverpool, 

 also made investigations of like kind in the Irish Sea, which yielded interesting 

 results, but here these need not be further referred to. (See Lancashire S.F. Reports, 

 issued 1H95 and 1896) ; also Fulton, "Additional Note, &c.," ISthAnn. Rep. S.F.B. for 18!9. 



t " Report on the Surface Drift of the English Channel and neighbouring Seas 

 during 1897," Jour. Mar. Biolog. Assoc., Vol. V., 1898. 



