Shallow Currents in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico as Observed with Satellite-Tracked Drifters

Four satellite-tracked drifters released in the southeastern Caribbean Sea during November 1977 revealed features of the shallow (100-m depth) circulation. All drifters showed meanders and loops, and two showed a large counterclockwise eddy in the Golfo de los Mosquitos. Two drifters passed through the Straits of Yucatan and showed a double-lobed northward penetration of the Loop Current. Within the Caribbean, scales of meanders and loops were about 100 km near inflow passages but scales were larger (200-500 km) farther downstream. Taken together, the drifter tracks showed important spatial and temporal variability that is not part of the classical depictions of the Caribbean circulation.