Some solutions are nonsymmetric in latitude despite the symmetry of the idealized wind stress.
We extended the bifurcation analysis to examine the limit of small frictional parameters. We discovered the wind power input was widely different for the nonsymmetric and antisymmetric equilibria, revealing interesting contrasts in the mechanisms of achieving an energy budget. The viscosity dependence of power input emphasizes that this quantity depends upon poorly known parameters. This motivates turning to observational data to calculate power input for the real ocean. The highly uncertain geoid is involved in calculating the mean currents, which have a signal to noise ratio less than one.