As part of the Group B PATOMAC cruise on the RSMAS research vessel F. G. Walton Smith in July 2003, two surface drifters were deployed about 50 kilometers east of Miami to measure the rate of turbulent dispersion of drifting particles (such as billfish larvae) in the Florida Current.

Mr. Mark Graham of the Ocean Technology Group at RSMAS had warned us that sometimes these drifters are picked up by passing boats, and for some reason they tend to end up on display in a bar on shore.

Via satellite, we began tracking the progress of our two drifters. Initially, they were demonstrating the usual slightly erratic track typical of surface drifters when on July 4 they both suddenly changed course on and made a fast and very straight track for the shoreline, indicating that a passing boat had probably plucked them from the water and taken them back to shore. The first figure shows the track of the drifters.

Unknown to the fishermen who picked them up, we can track the drifters even after they've been taken out of the water. Satellite tracking showed that the drifter tracks stopped at the location 28.409°N, 80.616°W. The maps show a series of closeups of the route taken by the drifters, which ended up somewhere along a waterfront in Cape Canaveral, FL (indicated by the small red star).

To recover our wayward drifters, we contacted the Police Department in Cape Canaveral. One of their officers drove to the map location we gave them, which turned out to be a sportfishing marina with... you guessed it... a dockside bar. Inside the bar they found both of the drifters on display, with their satellite transponders still happily transmitting their location.

The bar owner sadly gave up his nice new nautical-theme decorations, and they will soon be on their way back to Miami. We plan to re-deploy them on the next PATOMAC cruise.

Page last modified July 29, 2003