Why Land at 30º South Latitude?

What modern man often forgets besides the currents and winds that would have taken Nephi’s ship to the Land of Promise, is what would lead the Lehi Colony to land at a certain place? Obviously, the Liahona was involved, but the point is, the topography of the land, and the currents and winds involved, would play a huge role in that landing in 600 B.C. The Liahona might show the way, but the physical conditions had to have existed as well.

Much of the coast of South America was not conducive for a landing in 600 B.C. Even the beach on the lower right image has unscalable cliffs beyond

In order to understand the 30º South Latitude landing site, we need to first understand the Arabian launch site for Nephi’s ship. According to Nephi, he traveled along the Red Sea in a south-southeastern direction (1 Nephi 16:13), then turned nearly eastward (1 Nephi 17:1), until they reached the coast, an area Lehi called Bountiful “because of its much fruit and also wild honey” and those things “prepared of the Lord that we might not perish” (1 Nephi 17:5). This area was along the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, in the modern state of Oman, where Nephi built his ship (1 Nephi 17:8-9), and from which he launched his ship (1 Nephi 18:8). And—this is quite important—the moment they “put forth into the sea” they were “driven forth before the wind toward the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:8).

The coastal area of Salalah in present-day Oman, an area Lehi named Bountiful; Right: Salalah (red star) with Jerusalem at the top left. Nephi’s ship set sail into the Arabian Sea

This means that the winds and currents at the launch site were those that moved in the direction the ship was to take on its voyage to the Land of Promise. Consequently, the winds and currents along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula would be those first winds and currents Nephi’s ship encountered. In the summer months, the winds blow from the Arabian Sea inland, keeping any sailing vessel from getting away from the coast, or pushing them along the coast and into the Persian Gulf or against the coast of India.

The wind and sea currents in the Arabian Sea off the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula according to the NASA Earth Observatory. (Left) The winter months allows for a vessel to sail from the coast out into the Arabian Sea, while (Right) The summer months keep sailing ships at the shore, or push them into the coast of India

Once away from the shore, the vessel is carried by the Somalia Current, which runs westward along the coast of Oman and then southward along the coast of Somalia (away from the east, in the opposite direction of India) and into the Western Indian Ocean. This southern movement crosses the Equator where the Mozambique Current continues southward, but in the South Indian Ocean, the current begins to bend slightly to the southeast as the Coriola Effect forces the currents into a counter clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. At this point, the very strong Southern Ocean sweeping around the globe picks up the currents from the north and carries them eastward, past Australia and New Zealand and out into the South Pacific Ocean around the 40º to 50º south latitudes.

The extent of steering the ship up to this point would have been fairly minimal, with the one exception of keeping the vessel along the west portion of these currents. This was evidently accomplished by the Liahona, for at one point the brothers overcome Nephi and tie him up and the Liahona ceased working (1 Nephi 18:12). Without the compass showing the direction, the brothers were unable to determine where to steer the ship (1 Nephi 18:13).

Left: Satellite image of typical storm in the Indian Ocean; Right: Storm tracks in Indian Ocean (Note the dark area in the Indian Ocean where Nephi’s ship would have crossed

At this point a great storm arose, which is quite typical in this part of the Indian Ocean where a large low pressure center exists because of a constant low millibar reading creating tropical depressions about halfway between Australia and Madagascar, and strong thunderstorms with strong wind shear frequently developing, with winds along the western side of the circulation often hitting 85 knots (52 miles an hour) and extend outward 161 miles from the center, creating very rough seas in the Mozambique channel, exactly where Nephi’s ship would have drifted without it being kept to the far western side of the current. As usually happens at sea, when a storm arises with wind sheer and circular patterns, the ship was turned back on itself—back the way it had come (1 Nephi 18:13), being driven by fierce winds

It took four days for the vessel to run its course around the low-pressure area where the storm raged. Finally, on the fourth day, as the fear of swamping and being drowned was more than the brothers could take, they released Nephi who was able to steer the vessel out of the circular current and back onto the westerly course, obviously since the Liahona began working again (1 Nephi 18:21), and onto a course toward the Land of Promise (1 Nephi 18:22).

Once in the Southern Ocean, it was a straight run past Australia and New Zealand, then across the Pacific Ocean to where the current bent upward and was captured by the Humboldt Current

Once back on course, the ship would have followed the bending current into the Southern Ocean which took the vessel halfway around the globe in a strong current that required little more than holding on for those aboard. They obviously would have sailed along the northern edge of the current since that was where the warm water from the equator flowed, whereas the southern portion of the current was bathed in the colder water moving up from the Antarctic. And it is this northern portion of the current—the Prevailing Westerlies and West Wind Drift—that hits the southern shelf of South America and turns the current upward along the coast where it joins with the Humboldt Current (Peruvian Current) as it flows northward until it strikes the Peruvian bulge and begins to bend outward (westward) and eventually turns completely into the northern portion of the South Equatorial Current of the South Pacific Gyre that heads back across the Pacific Ocean toward Indonesia.

The South Pacific Gyre is a circulating current that moves northward along the South American coast, curves westward across the Pacific toward Indonesia, curves downward past Australia and then heads back across the Pacific as part of the Southern Ocean

The interesting thing about the current coming up the Chilean coast is that when it reaches the 30º South Latitude, the current and winds die down to nothing, making landfall a simple matter. Despite the current and winds moving swiftly up the coast, they slow and drop to a standstill precisely at the 30º South Latitude. And along the coast at this point is Coquimbo Bay—which translates to Peaceful Waters—and just beyond the coastal strip is the area of La Serena, the only Mediterranean Climate in South America, and the only one in the Western Hemisphere that exactly matches the climate and soils of Jerusalem—essential for planting seeds the Lehi Colony brought with them from Jerusalem (1 Nephi 18:24).

The question asked above, “Why land at 30º South Latitude?” is answered quite simply…it is the perfect landing sight along the west coast of South America, providing not only protected and calm waters for landing, but a sheltered bay, and a climate conducive to the colony’s needs for planting and surviving in a new land.