WHIRLS explores whether fine-scale ocean processes can drive major changes in our planet’s climate and ecosystems. Heat and carbon — two key players in Earth’s climate — are constantly exchanged between the ocean and the atmosphere. This exchange is shaped by ocean processes such as eddies, or “whirls”, which move heat and carbon toward across the air-sea interface or redistribute within the ocean.
When the ocean releases heat and carbon to the atmosphere, the climate tends to become warmer and wetter; when it absorbs them, conditions cool. These same fine-scale processes also influence marine life — by changing nutrient flows, light availability, ocean layering, and the physical (re)distribution of organisms. Eddies and fronts help determine where and how ocean ecosystems thrive.
Despite their importance, the role of these small-scale ocean features is still poorly understood. WHIRLS takes an interdisciplinary approach to uncover how processes spanning 1–100 kilometres affect ocean circulation, air–sea exchange, biogeochemistry, and biodiversity.
WHIRLS’s research focuses on the Agulhas Current System around South Africa — one of the world’s most dynamic regions for ocean eddies, climate interaction, and marine productivity. Using research vessels, autonomous ocean platforms, and advanced high-resolution models, the researchers of the project will gather and analyse physical, chemical, and biological data across scales.
By combining cutting-edge observations, modelling, and data science, WHIRLS aims to deepen our understanding of fine-scale ocean dynamics and improve how they are represented in Earth System models. This will lead to more accurate predictions of future climate and its impacts on our oceans and planet.
