Geophys. Res. Lett.http://doi.org/h58 (2012)

Where the East Australian Current flows into the Tasman Sea, eddies are spawned. Satellite measurements show an area of exceptionally intense eddy activity in the western Tasman Sea.

Jason Everett of the University of New South Wales and colleagues assessed Tasman eddy dynamics using a compilation of eddy occurrences and remote sensing of surface ocean properties. They identified a narrow strip of ocean, parallel to the Australian coast between about 32–39° S, where eddies were unusually fast and strong. Eddies in this region, which they term the Eddy Avenue, have greater sea surface temperature anomalies than the Tasman Sea eddy average. They also show greater anomalies in surface chlorophyll a, an indicator of phytoplankton activity, than the typical Tasman eddies. Both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies were more common in this alley than the Tasman Sea as a whole, but the clockwise spinning cyclonic eddies slightly more so.

In the Eddy Avenue, cyclonic eddies often entrain the nutrient-rich coastal waters, and therefore carry water rich in plankton and larval fish, whereas anti-cyclonic eddies remain nutrient poor. These mesoscale processes may dominate variability in the physics and biogeochemistry of the Tasman Sea.