I understand that they’re caused by opposing currents but surely after all these years the water in the ocean and all the crevices have settled? The question is more directed towards the concept of water flowing “in” water.
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Heat and gravity is the simple answer.
Ocean vortexes, just like wind, is caused by temperature changes, and oceans are going through both very long term (ocean conveyor) and short term (surface solar irradiance) temperature changes.
Gravity also plays a part since the oceans are always being moved around by the moon.
Combine that with highly localised effects of the ocean floor topography and you end up with situations where vortices can occur.
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