Editing Oyashio Current (section)

{{Short description|Cold subarctic ocean current in the Pacific Ocean}}
{{Redirect|Oyashio}}
[[File:Spring Bloom Colors the Pacific Near Hokkaido.jpg|thumb|The Oyashio Current colliding with the [[Kuroshio Current]] near [[Hokkaido]]. When two currents collide, they create [[Eddy (fluid dynamics)|eddies]]. [[Phytoplankton]] growing in the surface waters become concentrated along the boundaries of these eddies, tracing out the motions of the water.]]
[[File:Japan's ocean currents.PNG|thumb|The ocean currents surrounding the Japanese Archipelago: 1.[[Kuroshio]] 2. Kuroshio extension 3. Kuroshio countercurrent 4. The Tsushima Current 5. The Tsugaru Current 6. The Sōya Current '''7. Oyashio''' 8. [[:ja:リマン海流|The Liman Current]] ]]

The {{nihongo|'''Oyashio Current'''|親潮||"Parental Tide"}}, also known as the '''[[Sea of Okhotsk|Okhotsk]] Current''' or '''[[Kuril Islands|Kurile]] Current''', is a cold [[subarctic]] [[ocean current]] that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North [[Pacific Ocean]].  The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the [[Arctic Ocean]] and flow southward via the [[Bering Sea]], passing through the Bering Strait and transporting cold water from the Arctic Sea into the Pacific Ocean and the [[Sea of Okhotsk]].  It collides with the [[Kuroshio Current]] off the eastern shore of [[Japan]] to form the [[North Pacific Current]] (or Drift).
The nutrient-rich Oyashio is named for its metaphorical role as the {{nihongo|parent|親|''oya''}} that provides for and nurtures marine organisms.<ref>{{cite book|chapter= Kuroshio and Oyashio Currents|date=2001|last=Qiu|first=Bo|title=Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences|pages=1413–25| publisher=Academic Press | url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/bo/Q01.pdf |quote= The upwelled, nutrient-rich water feeds the Oyashio from the north and leads to its nomenclature, parent (''oya'') stream (''shio'').}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Glattstein|first=Judy|title=Enhance Your Garden with Japanese Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAhIAAAAYAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Kodansha International|isbn=978-1-56836-137-6|page=16 |quote=[...] currents whirl around and ascend, and nourish microscopic plankton. Oyashio is thus the parent of fishes.}}</ref>