Beaufort Gyre rotating system. This is why anything floating, including fresher water tends to move toward the centre of the system. Indeed, there is a slight bulge in the centre of the Beaufort gyre when it is rotating in its predominant clockwise direction. If, as is speculated, as the Arctic Ocean becomes a heat collector resulting in a low pressure, counter clockwise rotating system, the Beaufort Gyre can be expected to follow suit and send the fresher water outward to be captured by the transpolar current. This could well bring up the saltier, slightly warmer Atlantic water which lies under the floating,
Beaufort West Local Municipality the south and the Laingsburg Municipality to the southwest. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 49,586 people in 13,089 households. Of this population, 73.5% describe themselves as "Coloured", 16.3% as "Black African", and 9.2% as "White". The first language of 84.3% of the population is Afrikaans, while 10.7% speak Xhosa and 2.5% speak English. The main town in the municipality is Beaufort West, which as of 2011 has a population of 34,085. Murraysburg (pop. 5,069) is situated in the far east of the municipality. Nelspoort (pop. 1,699) is situated northeast of Beaufort West, while Merweville