Researchers studying the movement of ocean flows use a variety of tools and technologies to collect accurate data. Drifters are tools that report their location, speed, and in some cases water conditions as they are carried by ocean currents. The data collects by drifters can help improve models that predict the movement of objects or substances in the ocean, such as marine larvae, spilled oil, and people lost at sea.
Scientists working with the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) teamed up with outreach and media specialists and created the animated story “Bob the Drifter” using simple language and pictures to explain their research.
Bob is specially designed to drift with the surface currents and is equipped with a GPS unit so CARTHE scientists can track where he goes and how fast he is moving. In the video, follow Bob as he moves throughout the Gulf of Mexico, providing information to scientists so they can predict where pollutants, people, and larval lobster may go based on how the ocean currents are moving.
To learn more about CARTHE research, please visit CARTHE.org.
The CARTHE team is based at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science and is funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).
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Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gysyr2lqwFs