Onboard the SA Agulhas 11

- The so-called “screaming” Agulhas is one of the most energetic current systems on Earth. The current shoots southwest along the continental slope of South Africa at more than 75 million cubic meters (2.65 billion cubic feet) per second — about 350 times the flow rate of the Amazon River. In July 2022 I boarded the South African research vessel SA Agulhas II with high hopes of journeying along with the scientists on board to study the mysterious Agulhas Current, and with plans to report their data and findings to Mongabay readers.

But the best laid plans … Just days into our voyage, we were suddenly forced to abandon the vessel’s important climate mission and veer away from our scheduled route northward along South Africa’s east coast, and steer southeast instead to evacuate two injured researchers from Marion Island, a remote nature reserve in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.

The resulting story and photographs were published by Mongbay: Agulhas Current enigma: An oceanic gap in our climate understanding