These currents have brought most of the sea life to the Gal pagos. For example, today we saw the Yellowtail Surgeonfish, which arrived here with the Panama Flow, a moderately warm water current, that starts off the west coast of Panama. We also saw Moorish Idols, which came to the Gal pagos on the warm North Equatorial Counter Current from the west Pacific. Even my sea lion friends have made a journey. Their early ancestors probably came from the California coast, with yet another current, the North Equatorial Current.
Currents are the highways of the ocean.
They transport many kinds of plankton and marine plants. Currents carry fish, as well as their eggs and larvae. Like hitchhikers, the fish colonize faraway parts of the world. Since so many ocean currents pass the Gal pagos, it s no wonder we find fish here from around the world. Ocean currents, by the way, are caused by a complex variety of forces.