Nils Bang

Nils Bang's oceanographic research began in 1965 when he joined the Naval Oceanographic Research unit in Youngsfield, near Cape Town. He then moved to the Oceanographic Institute at the University of Cape Town, where his key research was accomplished.South African Journal of Science (January 1978) Vol 74 In June 1965, he was selected as South Africa's representative on board the US research ship, {{RV|Atlantis II||2}}, the flagship of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to take part in the multi-ship International Indian Ocean Expedition, which he accompanied on a traverse of the continental shelf from Maputo to Durban—researching the evolution and significance of submarine canyons—and then on to Australia, visiting oceanographic institutions there. After post-doctoral studies at the Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway, he joined the newly formed National Research Institute of Oceanography of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Durban, where he remained until his death.

Conducted along the length of the current, south of latitude 27°S, this 18-day project, from 6 to 24 March 1969, included three ships: the University of Cape Town's research vessel Thomas B. Davie, the CSIR's Meiring Naude, and the Department of Sea Fisheries' Africana II. Most of data gathered was obtained from systematically calibrated surface thermograph records from the ships:Bang, N.D. (1970) Dynamic Interpretations of a Detailed Surface Temperature Chart of the Agulhas Current Retroflexion and Fragmentation Area. South African Geographical Journal Volume 52, Issue 1, 1970 Thomas B. Davie operated from west to east working the segment between Mossel Bay and the Great Fish River (as far as 500 miles south), while Meiring Naude and Africana II worked simultaneously from east to west, the former covering the Kosi Bay to East London segment and the latter the Mossel Bay to St Helena Bay segment. A CSIR aircraft—equipped with an infrared radiation thermometer for measuring ocean temperatures from a height of 1,000 feet—flew traverses across the current from Cape St Lucia to Cape Town. Some 10,000 sea water samples were taken and a similar number of temperature readings.The Cape Argus, 26 March 1969 An uncharted 9,500-foot seamount found in the course of the cruise was named the Davie Seamount{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}.

The findings of the Agulhas Current Project showed that a key to understanding the current's dynamics was the way it turns back on itself,Bennett, Sara L (1988). Where Three Oceans Meet: The Agulhas Retroflection Region. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology a phenomenon Bang described as "retroflection",J. R. E. Lutjeharms (2006). Three decades of research on the greater Agulhas Current. Ocean Sci. Discuss., 3, 939–995The Agulhas Current retroflection (2007), Related Papers, South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (SA MOC) workshops, Physical Oceanography Division (PhOD), Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory National Oceanic & Atmostpheric Administration. [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/SAMOC/Related_Papers.html South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation workshop related papers]Bang, N. D. and F. C. Pearce (1970) Hydrological data. Agulhas Current Project, March 1969. Institute of Oceanography, University of Cape Town. Data Report No.4, 26pp. more commonly used to describe the way the mammalian intestine or uterus can curve back on itself. The term has since become common parlance among oceanographers.

Following studies of the Southern Benguela system off South Africa's west coast, Bang and Andrews anticipated and subsequently discovered the strong equatorward shelf edge frontal jet off the Cape Peninsula—an intrusion of Agulhas Current water—which they named the Good Hope Jet.Bang, N. D., and W. R. H. Andrews (1974), Direct current measurements of a shelf-edge frontal jet in the southern Benguela system, Journal of Marine Research, 32, 405 – 417South African Journal of Science (January 1978) Vol 74 The jet plays a vital role in carrying the eggs and larvae of a range fish from their food-poorBenguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme (2007) The Changing State of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem: Expert Workshop on Climate Change and Variability and Impacts Thereof in the BCLME Region. 15–16 May 2007. Workshop report compiled by Jennifer Veitch Agulhas Bank spawning grounds to more conducive inshore nursery areas.Shannon L.V. and M.J. O'Toole (1999) Synthesis And Assessment of Information on the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). Thematic Report No 2. Integrated Overview of the Oceanography and Environmental Variability of the Benguela Current Region. Windhoek, Namibia

Nils Bang was born in Durban, South Africa, on 13 September 1941. His father was Daniel Nielson Bang, a Zulu linguist and son of Norwegian missionaries, and his mother was Anna Maria Bang (née Linde), the daughter of Swedish missionaries. He had a younger sister and brother, Anaida and Knut Olav. He attended Merchiston Preparatory School and later Harward, both in Pietermaritzburg. During his school years, he was a sea cadet and attended a Commonwealth sea cadet course in Britain. He studied first at the University of Natal and then at the University of Cape Town where he was awarded a PhD in 1974. (Thesis: The Southern Benguela System: Finer Oceanic Structure and Atmospheric Determinants).{{cn|date=April 2025}}

He married Mary Alison Coombe, a midwife, on 21 August 1965, in Pietermaritzburg. He credited his inspiration for the "retroflection" metaphor to his wife who had taught him the term during her midwifery studies. In 1967, their first daughter, Kirsten, was born in Cape Town, followed by two more daughters, Solveig in 1970 and Janice in 1973.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Nils Bang died, aged 36, of colon cancer, in Durban's Entabeni Hospital on 2 December 1977.South African Journal of Science (January 1978) Vol 74 At dawn on 27 January 1978, members of the CSIR staff along with his friend, retired Port Captain Jimmy Deacon, aboard the research ship Meiring Naude, committed his ashes to the sea between Umkomaas and Scottburgh on the Natal south coast.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

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Category:South African oceanographers

Category:1977 deaths

Category:1941 births