The interactions between a point vortex and various kinds of shear flows on the f plane are studied using barotropic and equivalent barotropic contour dynamics models. The shear flows are represented by a single interface separating two regions of constant, but different, potential vorticities. Linearized calculations, applicable when the vortex is far from the interface, show that an anticyclonic vortex to the ''north'' of a region of cyclonic shear will generate a localized northward perturbation on the interface. The interaction between the vorticity anomaly created by this displacement and the vortex result in ''westward'' propagation. Numerical calculations confirm this propagation tendency but also show that when the separation is small enough, the vortex will capture a segment of the interface by winding it up and around the vortex. When an anticyclone is embedded in the cyclonic half of a jet (with anticyclonic shear to the south of the interface), a second phenomenon is noticed; the vortex is drawn in toward the jet axis. The reason for this is discussed using first a simple linear theory and then a strongly nonlinear case. The dynamic processes described here should play a significant role in many oceanic situations such as the interaction between Gulf Stream rings and the stream. ¿American Geophysical Union 1987