A barotropic, quasigeostrophic, finite-element model of regional ocean circulation is implemented on three parallel architectures: a Multiple Instruction Multiple Data (MIMD) vector computer, a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) hypercube, and a network of workstations connected together using Fiber Distrib uted Data Interface (FDDI). Specific computation-inten sive tasks are identified, and alternative algorithms are implemented and compared. Detailed performance comparisons are presented. lssues in parallel algo rithm design, such as portability, scalability, and effi ciency, are studied in an attempt to provide guidance to numerical modelers wishing to use parallel and dis tributed computing.The first intended application is the analysis of the meandering of the Kuroshio, an intense current in the North Pacific which is the dynamical analog of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic. Here we consider the distinctive eddy patterns off the coast of Japan. The model reproduces the observed bimodality, which appears in this model through a Hopf bifurcation.