How fast can the current flow?

Hundreds of kilometers per hour

How has the current changed in recent decades?

It has reached farther south, warming Tasmania's seas

East Australian Current Quiz: Finding Nemo's Turtle Highway

This East Australian Current quiz rides the ocean highway that Crush and his sea turtles surf in Finding Nemo. Play 10 interactive questions on where the current starts in the Coral Sea, how fast it flows, its swirling eddies, tropical fish carried to Sydney, its role as a western boundary current, warming seas off Tasmania and the turtles of the film.

Start East Australian Current Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Film
Which film made the East Australian Current famous?
Turtle
Which surfer-style turtle helps Marlin?
Start
Where does the current begin?
Direction
Which way does the current flow?
Speed
How fast can the current flow?
Eddy
What swirls off the current as it moves south?
Fish
What does the current carry toward Sydney?
Type
What type of ocean current is it?
Change
How has the current changed in recent decades?
Line
Which word does Crush use often?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which film made the East Australian Current famous?
Answer: Finding Nemo
Marlin and Dory ride it.
Q2: Which surfer-style turtle helps Marlin?
Answer: Crush
He is said to be 150 years old.
Q3: Where does the current begin?
Answer: In the Coral Sea
It flows south along the coast.
Q4: Which way does the current flow?
Answer: South along eastern Australia
It carries warm water south.
Q5: How fast can the current flow?
Answer: Several kilometers per hour
It is one of Australia's strongest currents.
Q6: What swirls off the current as it moves south?
Answer: Large eddies
They can be hundreds of kilometers wide.
Q7: What does the current carry toward Sydney?
Answer: Young tropical fish
Many cannot survive winter there.
Q8: What type of ocean current is it?
Answer: A western boundary current
Like the Gulf Stream, it hugs a coast.
Q9: How has the current changed in recent decades?
Answer: It has reached farther south, warming Tasmania's seas
Kelp forests have declined.
Q10: Which word does Crush use often?
Answer: Dude
Squirt is his son.

Riding the Real Ocean Highway

In Finding Nemo, Marlin and Dory ride the East Australian Current with Crush, a laid-back sea turtle, and his son Squirt. The current is real. It begins in the Coral Sea and flows south along the east coast of Australia, carrying warm tropical water toward Sydney and beyond.

It is a western boundary current, like the Gulf Stream, hugging the coast and flowing at several kilometers per hour in its fastest parts. As it moves south it sheds large swirling eddies that can be hundreds of kilometers wide. It carries young tropical fish south, though many cannot survive the colder winters.

In recent decades the current has pushed farther south, warming the seas off Tasmania. Kelp forests there have declined and new species have moved in. The film made the current famous, and sea turtles really do travel long distances in ocean currents.

What This Quiz Teaches

Ocean and Pixar fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the current starts
How it flows
What it carries
How it is changing
How the film shows it

Did You Know?

Green turtles feed on seagrass.
Surfers know the current's warm water.
Scientists track it by satellite.
It affects east coast fishing.
Nemo is a clownfish.