North Eastern Atlantic

The open Atlantic west of the Sahara lies south of the Canary Islands and beyond the exposed coast of Cape Bojador. The Canary Current flows generally southward through these waters, and winds along the African coast bring cooler water up from below. In the fifteenth century Portuguese voyages ventured beyond Bojador and continued along the desert shore, adding this part of the ocean to routes linking the Atlantic islands with the coast farther south.