Canary Current facts for kids

The Canary Current is a slow-moving ocean current that is part of a giant ocean circle called the North Atlantic Gyre. It's like a big, slow river in the ocean! This current flows south along the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean, starting from the North Atlantic Current.

It moves southwest towards the coast of Africa, near a country called Senegal. After that, it turns west and joins another current called the Atlantic North Equatorial Current. The current gets its name from the Canary Islands, a group of islands that partly get in the way of its flow.

Long ago, people called the Phoenicians might have used this wide, slow current to help them sail and settle along the coast of western Morocco. The Phoenicians used the current's waters for fishing. They also built a factory on some islands near modern-day Essaouira. There, they made a special purple dye called Tyrian purple from sea snails.

Images for kids

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  The Canary Current, shown vertically