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Living Lab Radio on CAI

Messages in Bottles Have Long and Varied History

By Alecia Orsini
Published March 6, 2014 at 12:07 PM EST
The Coastal and Geodetic Survey, a predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used drift bottles in the Gulf of Mexico to find the origin of the Gulf Stream, following in the footsteps of Folger-Franklin.

A 56-year-old project based in Woods Hole may have been the largest deployment of messages in bottles, but was by no means the first.

During our conversation earlier this week, Dr. Pelle Robbins of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution mentioned that Prince Albert (I) of Monaco was known for using messages in bottles to study ocean currents. The comment piqued our interest, so we started digging into the history of launching bottled messages.

This is by no means a comprehensive history. If you have events to add, please chime in!

Here are a few of the highlights of what we found:

Living Lab: Message in a Bottle on Dipity.

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Alecia Orsini
Alecia Orsini is an award winning independent filmmaker and multi-media professional. She joined the team at WCAI in March of 2012 as a part time host. She became the Special Projects Assistant for Development department, where she coordinated events, volunteers and managed member engagement. As the Development Associate she continues to bring more meaningful connections to WCAI's members, fostering donor support of the station. Alecia also continues to fill in as host for Weekend Edition and All Things Considered.
See stories by Alecia Orsini