Poorly informed people sometimes claim that the winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean run only from east to west, which would preclude either the Jaredite barges or the Lehite ship crossing the Pacific. This gross oversimplification distorts the truth. 6 major wind-driven currents in the Pacific Ocean flow from west to east, eventually landing a vessel somewhere on the Pacific coast of the Americas:
- North Pacific Current
- Kuroshio Current
- Equatorial Counter Current
- East Australia Current
- South Pacific Current
- Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Map of Major Ocean Currents
K =Kuroshio CurrentNP = North Pacific Current
EC = Equatorial Counter Current
ACC = Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Ocean Motion Map from NASA
and the American Meteorological Association
This map shows all 6 of the major west to east currents in the Pacific.
Map from Science Education through Earth Observation (SEOS)
These maps show mean wind-driven current paths. Seasonal variations exist. Patterns are sometimes disrupted in El Niño years.
From 1565 to 1815 Spanish traders sailed the "Manila Galleons" from the Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico. Transit time for them averaged about 4 months to cross the Pacific from west to east.
Explaining seasonality, Philip Beale, captain of the remarkable Phoenicia, told me that sailing his replica vessel from Oman he could have gone west to Africa or east to India depending on the season of the year.
For reasons why the Jaredites almost certainly crossed the Pacific, see the blog articles "Tracking the Jaredites" and "Jaredites Crossed the Pacific."
