Cold water eddies are usually full of nutrients and marine life. ... The Coriolis effect causes cold water eddies to rotate counterclockwise and warm water eddies to rotate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere while in the Southern Hemisphere cold water eddies rotate clockwise and warm water eddies rotate counterclockwise.

Which way do eddies rotate?

Eddies: the Oceanic Storms

so that a warm anticyclonic eddy (i.e a positive bump in the sea surface) will rotate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, while a cold cyclonic eddy (a depression in the sea surface) will rotate in the opposite direction.

Why do eddies rotate in different directions?

The Coriolis effect causes similar eddies to rotate in opposite directions in the different hemispheres so that in the north, cold water eddies rotate counterclockwise and warm water eddies rotate clockwise, while in the south, cold water eddies rotate clockwise and warm water eddies rotate counterclockwise.