A warm, swift, ocean current that flows northward between Cuba and the Yucatán peninsula, moves into the Gulf of Mexico, loops clockwise in the eastern Gulf before exiting east into the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits. It is part of the western boundary current system of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre and may extend to great depths. An eddy, or Loop Current ring, separates from the Loop Current and may drift slowly westward into the central and western Gulf of Mexico.