Friday, April 10th, 2009

Flotsametrics

Array.alttext

Lumber washed up on a beach. Photo by Flickr user adactio.

What can floating debris teach researchers about the world's oceans? In May of 1990, a Pacific storm knocked five containers filled with thousands of sneakers off a cargo vessel. Almost a year later, the shoes began washing up along the West coast of North America -- and observations of the locations of those shoes helped flesh out detailed maps of ocean currents. We'll talk with the author of a new book about the data to be learned from observing shoes, rubber ducks, and other wayward flotsam.

Guests

Curtis Ebbesmeyer
Oceanographer
Co-Author, "Flotsametrics and the Floating World" (Harper-Collins, 2009)
Seattle, Washington

Related Links

Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

Science Jobs
JMP
Tasty Mug
Support for Science Friday provided in part by the Noyce Foundation
and
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The National Science Foundation
Research Corporation for Science Advancement