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How can vertical migration help larvae travel with ocean currents?

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A herd of wildebeest, including calves, moves across a dusty savanna in Africa with scattered trees visible in the background. — Migration A herd of common wildebeest (*Connochaetes taurinus*) migrating across a dusty savanna in Africa. The animal is a keystone species (i.e., a species with a disproportionately large effect on its biological community) in plains and acacia savanna ecosystems from southeastern Africa to central Kenya.

Vertical migration allows larval forms to facilitate their horizontal transport by utilizing ocean currents that vary in direction at different depths.1

In many marine environments, such as estuaries, water layers separated by thermoclines or haloclines often flow in different directions. By migrating vertically between these distinct layers, larvae can effectively "choose" which current to inhabit, thereby controlling or influencing their horizontal movement and dispersal to different habitats.1