ABSTRACT
Over most of the ocean the importance of the surface currents was less immediately recognized, apart from the narrow swift flows near the western boundaries of the ocean, which were soon apparent. Its situation on the lucrative trade route to the east led to early awareness of the Agulhas Current, by Bartholomew Diaz and by Vasco da Gama at the end of the fifteenth century. By 1513 the Gulf Stream (specifically the Florida Current) had been described by Ponce de Leon.
