Annual concentrations of zooplankton off California varied directly, and concentrations in the western Bering Sea varied indirectly with calculated southerly components of Ekman transport in the previous year at 50°N,140°W. This point is in the area in which surface subarctic water and the deeper currents divide north and south. The underlying geostrophic flow requires approximately 1 year to reach each downstream sampling area. Summer concentrations of zooplankton at Ocean Station P, 50°N,145°W, varied with southerly and westerly components at 50°N,160°W during the previous winter. Fifty to sixty per cent of the variance of the annual concentration in zooplankton appears to be due to advection of surface water.