There is considerable uncertainty about fish population connectivity and the trajectory for larval transport following adult spawning migrations from temperate to subtropical oceanic waters off the south and east coast of South Africa. In particular, the role of the Agulhas Current and local wind drift has not been fully elucidated as drivers for connecting coastal and offshore waters, and the results of a previous study that modelled the movements of plastic nurdles following a spill in Durban Harbour are used to infer dispersal and transport. Planktonic fish eggs and early stage larvae are passive and behave in a similar way to nurdles, and the rapid movement of the nurdles provided a unique opportunity to track coastal dispersal trajectories and provide insights into population connectivity in some migratory fish species. Under the variable wind conditions typical along the coast, the nurdles tended to remain localised but when winds blew consistently for a few days in one direction, the nurdles drifted from localised surrogate spawning areas and moved via Agulhas Current connectivity and onshore wind assistance to distal coastal locations hundreds of kilometres away. The rapid and extensive dispersal of nurdles served as a valuable surrogate for understanding dispersal dynamics of planktonic organisms in the surface layer of the ocean which has important implications for genetic dispersal in fishes.

在成年产卵从南非南部和东部沿海向温带向亚热带海洋水域迁移之后，鱼类种群的连通性和幼体运输的轨迹存在很大的不确定性。特别是，尚未充分阐明Agulhas当前和局部风向漂移作为连接沿海和近海水域的驱动因素的作用，并且以前的研究结果模拟了在德班港发生溢油后塑料环的运动。推断扩散和运输。浮游生物鱼卵和早期幼虫是被动的，其行为与小核相似，而小核的快速运动提供了独特的机会来追踪沿海的扩散轨迹，并提供了对某些迁徙鱼类种群连通性的见解。在沿海地区典型的多变风况下，小岛倾向于保持局部分布，但是当风在一个方向上持续吹几天后，小块便从局部代孕产卵区漂移，并通过阿古拉斯潮流连接和陆上风能移动到远端沿海地区。几百公里之外的位置。小核的快速和广泛扩散是了解浮游生物在海洋表层的扩散动态的重要替代手段，这对鱼类的遗传扩散具有重要意义。这些小节从局部代孕产卵区漂流而过，并通过Agulhas Current连通性和陆上风能援助移动到了数百公里外的沿海地区。小核的快速和广泛扩散是了解浮游生物在海洋表层的扩散动态的重要替代手段，这对鱼类的遗传扩散具有重要意义。这些小节从局部代孕产卵区漂流而过，并通过Agulhas Current连通性和陆上风能援助移动到了数百公里之外的远洋沿海地区。小核的快速和广泛扩散是了解浮游生物在海洋表层的扩散动态的重要替代手段，这对鱼类的遗传扩散具有重要意义。