New use of drift bottle

 　　Who would have thought that the old way of connecting - the drift bottle would be relevant today? Of course, it's not the seafarers who have suffered shipwrecks who use drift bottles here, but the scientists who seriously study ocean currents.

　　It turns out that ordinary ampoules sometimes outperform precise instruments when studying the world's oceans. It sounds bizarre, but it's true. For example, oceanographers, meteorologists, and climatologists know that one of the most important topics in ocean research is the study of currents on its surface. There are still many blank spots in the complete atlas of current direction, speed and power compiled by scientists. What can help scientists is a simple and effective drift bottle.

　　The first person to use drift bottles for scientific research was the French meteorologist Lagenyère. In 1763, when he returned from Santo Domingo, Haiti, he dropped 14 bottles with notes into the sea, using free drifting in this way. Object begins a study of ocean currents. Who would have thought that 200 years later, scientists would throw glass bottles with notes into the sea...

　　In 1970, when the former Soviet research ship "Kurchatov" conducted a study in the sea area of ​​Cape Zeglione Islands, The young oceanographer Rudolf Abramov decided to take a risk. At that time, he carefully measured the sonobuoy that sank into the sea overboard of the ship, and did not get accurate results. In this case, the easiest and most suitable method is to use a drift bottle, because the glass bottle itself is a kind of buoy, but there is no radio signal. So, he brought some empty wine bottles and put the English notes with the same content in them.

　　There are also two stamps in the bottle at the same time, and all the notes are numbered and registered. For this experiment, scientists have put more than 600 such notes into the ocean.

　　On February 10, 1971, at the address provided, the scientist received the first answer.

　　Based on the registration number, Abramov understood that what was found was thrown into the sea on September 13, 1970. Later, there were more and more replies, until 1993, and Abramov's scientific experiments gradually turned into exchanges with people from all walks of life.

　　Sadly, one such reply came close to discrediting Abramov's future. On April 12, 1972, a patrol boat of the Brazilian Air Force found a glass wine bottle on the beach of Tibau in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. On the same day, Abramov's note was handed over to the Soviet embassy in Brazil, and then transferred to the KGB, who was very interested in his drift bottle and asked him to hand over all the replies he received, and naturally, the content of these replies Very friendly, let the anti-revolutionaries feel a little relieved. Nonetheless, Abramov was advised to be removed from similar expedition work.

　　Notes were received only in a small number for many reasons, such as glass bottles being smashed by rocks on the shore and poured into sand without being noticed. Many bottles drift to desert islands, where they may lie on the shore for decades. The location where the letter is sent is also very important. For example, one-fifth of the bottles are thrown into the inland waters of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Sea of ​​Japan, and they can always reach the other side. However, things are a little different when thrown into the ocean, where the percentage of bottles found is low.

　　At one point, Abramoff received two replies, one from Dominica and one from the coast of Florida. Comparing the dates of the bottles, he found out that the two bottles were thrown into the sea at the same time and in the same place. However, it is not clear why the notes are received by different recipients located far away? Scientists have this statement: Under the action of a large-scale cyclone, a circulation is formed in the ocean: one bottle is swept away by the north current of the Lesser Antilles, the other is swept away by the Atlantic current, and arrives through the Gulf of Hexigo. Florida shore. To this day, this unique natural phenomenon has helped the inhabitants of two small Indonesian islands to communicate: Taking advantage of the isolated circulation, they bottled letters into the sea and sent them to each other. After a day and a night, the letter arrived at another island. By the way, the local cruise ships only run once a week.

　　In the 18th century, Franklin used drift bottles to gather knowledge of the East Coast currents of the United States, and this information is still in use today. Even now, the U.S. military uses bottles to collect data on tides and currents, and bottles are often used to track the direction of oil spills at sea. In short, the drift bottle is still in the service of modern science today.