Massive 200km whirlpool lowers sea surface

SYDNEY - Australian oceanographers have discovered a giant cold water eddy off Sydney, which has lowered sea levels almost one metre and impacted on a major ocean current.
The eddy, which has diameter of about 200km and reaches a depth of 1km, lies about 100km off Sydney, said Australia's top scientific body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
The CSIRO said the eddy was so powerful it had pushed out to sea the strong East Australian Current, popularised in the hit Hollywood animation Finding Nemo and used by sailors in the Sydney-Hobart race down the east coast of Australia.
Shipping traffic and fishing have not been affected.
The CSIRO said what had caused the giant eddy was a mystery. "What we do know is that this is a very powerful natural feature which tends to push everything else aside -- even the mighty East Australian Current," said CSIRO's David Griffin.
The sea surface has lowered by 70cm at its centre, the CSIRO said in a statement received on Wednesday.

This insert can be found in today NZ Herald and further indication of where our global environmental future is heading.