The Floating World: What Flotsam Teaches Us About the Ocean

11/12/2009 at 10:00 a.m.

Another tennis–shoe–clad foot recently washed onto the Vancouver shore. It's the seventh foot to show up since August 2007. Officials believe that while a body set adrift decomposes and sinks, the running shoe floats to the surface and follows the tidal currents. Where are these feet coming from? Scientists learn a lot about the ocean from the flotsam drifting on the tides. Some trash ends up on wrack line for you to find. Other tidal currents lead to one of five large ocean garbage patches. What are the latest discoveries in our oceans? What have you found on the shore line?

Guest(s)

Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer received his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Washington in Oceanography. He is the president and editor of Beachcombers Alert. He's also the co–author of "Flotsametrics: How one Man's Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science."