Canary Current 
The Canary Current is that part of the clockwise flow of the 
North Atlantic Ocean that sets south off the northwest coast of 
Africa, as shown in Figure 1. In the vicinity of the Cape Verde 
Islands the current divides, part curving southwestward and joining 
the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, and part turning southeastward 
into the Guinea Current. 
North of 30°N the current has very little seasonal variation; 
the flow prevails southward about 40 percent of the time and has a mean 
speed of 0.4 knot. Between 30° and 20°N the set becomes more persistent, 
and the current prevails southwestward about 55 percent of the time, 
with a mean speed of 0.5 knot. 
A total of almost 24,000 observations within the area 25°-35°N, 
15°-20°W shows that 92 percent of the speed observations are between 
O.1 and 0.9 knot, 6 percent between 1.0 and 2.0 knots, and less than 
0.5 percent over 2.0 knots. These percentages also apply very closely 
to the rose subarea in Figure 11. 
The part of the current south of 20°N appears to differ considerably 
between winter and summer, as shown in Figures 11 and 1. During July, 
August, and September the southern part of the current narrows consid- 
erably. During January, February, and March, when the Atlantic Equatorial 
Countercurrent is least evident, the Canary Current is wide, extends close 
to the African coast as far south as 10°N, and flows into the wide band 
of westward flow in the equatorial region. During this period the flow 
in the southern part of the current appears more constant; the percent 
frequency in the prevailing south-southwest direction is higher, ranging 
between 45 and 60 percent, and the mean speed is 0.6 knot. 
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