Spatial and Temporal Variation of a Cyclonic Eddy Detected Downstream of the Tsushima Islands in November 2007

Horizontal, vertical and temporal distribution of a cyclonic (counterclockwise) eddy, where biological productivity is high, downstream of the Tsushima Islands in the eastern channel of the Tsushima Straits in November 2007 was revealed using conductivity–temperature–depth and acoustic Doppler current profiler data. The eddy had a horizontal scale of approximately 40–60 km, and the accompanying baroclinic current was more than 15 cm s−1 at the edge of the eddy. The island-induced cyclonic eddy moved east-northeastward at about 10 km day−1 (∼10 cm s−1) along the Tsushima Warm Current and was intensified by the barotropic instability in the current shear. The cyclonic eddy with high surface chlorophyll a concentrations intensified in the vicinity of the Tsushima Islands and was advected by the Tsushima Warm Current towards the southwestern Japan Sea.