Recoveries from 1964 through 1968 of Drift Bottles Released from a Merchant Vessel, S.S. Java Mail, en Route Seattle to Yokohama, October 1964

• Main Author: Fisk, Donald M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Hawai'i Press 1971
• Subjects: Subarctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4205

During October 1964, drift bottles were released from a merchant vessel at intervals of about 80 miles during a voyage from Seattle, Washington to Yokohama, Japan. Of 3,840 bottles released, 121 have been recovered. Returns from four release areas are divided among four regions: Coastal, Eastern Subarctic, Central Subarctic, and Western Subarctic. Coastal recoveries reflect the northward drift along the coasts of Washington and British Columbia during winter. Recoveries from releases in the Eastern Subarctic show well-defined zonal flow to the west coast of North America. New information concerning the divergence of the Subarctic Current during winter was obtained from releases in the Central Subarctic. The long period between release and recovery of the bottles, from all but Coastal and Central Subarctic releases, makes it difficult to derive much new information about circulation in this region where extensive drift-bottle studies have been made. A system of drifting buoys tracked by satellites would provide valuable information to oceanographers, meteorologists, and fisheries research.