Benguela Current

The Benguela Current is a cold eastern boundary current that flows northward along southwestern Africa. Its coastal upwelling brings nutrient-rich water to the surface, supporting productive marine ecosystems and fisheries.

Coastal upwelling: The upward movement of deep water near a coast, often driven by winds that push surface water offshore. Along southwestern Africa, it replenishes surface waters with nutrients that sustain the current’s fisheries.
Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem: A marine region off Namibia, Angola, and South Africa defined by shared ecological and oceanographic features. It is the ecosystem-scale area where the current’s upwelling and fisheries are managed.
Walvis Bay: A Namibian coastal bay and port on the southeastern Atlantic. Its coastal waters lie within a major zone of Benguela upwelling and fisheries.
Benguela upwelling system: The coastal oceanographic system of winds, currents, and upwelling along southwestern Africa. Its future productivity depends on how winds and upwelling respond to climate change.
Ekman transport: The net movement of surface water at an angle to wind direction, caused by Earth’s rotation and friction. It carries surface water offshore when prevailing winds blow along the Benguela coast.
Peruvian anchoveta: A small schooling fish that supports one of the world’s largest single-species fisheries off Peru. Its fishery offers a comparison for the Benguela’s dependence on productive upwelling waters.
Lüderitz: A coastal town and port in southern Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean. It sits near a strong upwelling region in the southern Benguela system.
Oxygen minimum zone: A midwater ocean region where dissolved oxygen concentrations are exceptionally low. Low-oxygen waters affect Benguela habitats and may expand or shift with changing conditions.
South Atlantic High: A persistent subtropical high-pressure system over the South Atlantic Ocean. Its circulation helps drive the southerly winds that promote upwelling along the Benguela coast.
Namibian hake fishery: A commercial fishery for hake species in Namibian waters. Hake are among the commercially important fish supported by Benguela ecosystem productivity.

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