Liverpool University scientists have discovered a special type of oceanic vortex that can carry marine animals at high speed over long distances.

This is reported by lenta. ru with reference to Phys.. org The diameter of oceanic vortices (rings) reaches several hundred or thousand kilometers. They are similar to the circular movement of air in the atmosphere and can carry cold or warm waters.

The new type of rings, called "smoke rings", is a pair of related vortices that rotate in opposite directions.

Their speed is about 10 times higher than the speed of ordinary oceanic vortices. The causes of this phenomenon are still unknown.

"Smoke rings" were detected using satellite data on sea level and surface water temperature. The researchers observed twin vortices in the Tasman Sea off the coast of Australia and in the South Atlantic.

Such rings can exist for about six months before they break up into several smaller rings. Although oceanic vortices predominantly move from east to west, the paired rings move to the east.