Velocity records from a subsurface mooring in the Somali Current exhibit direction reversals during a time when the SW Monsoon is still steadily blowing. The records are interpreted in terms of large-scale eddies which seem to be generated near the equator and propagate slowly northward along the coast of Somalia.

The Somali Current constitutes the most important branch of the complex East African Current System. It is generated by the Summer Monsoon and flows along the coast of East Africa, from the latitude of Mombasa to the island of Socotra, corresponding to a distance of about 2200 km. Translated to the path of the Gulf Stream, this corresponds to the distance between Yucatan and Cape Hatteras. Despite the fact that this current has been immensely important to seafarers for nearly 2000 years, it is one of the least explored boundary current systems in the Northern Hemisphere. In contrast to the Gulf Stream, which shows only insignificant seasonal variations, the Somali Current reverses its direction following the seasonal change of the monsoon winds. A first long-term current meter record from the region indicates that the classical picture of a straightforward oceanic response to the forcing of the windstress may be greatly oversimplified. It is shown that some of the key features of the record are not related to fluctuations of the wind field, but more likely to large-scale eddies propagating northward along the coast.