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Q. How were the Safe Seas drift cards released?
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| A. Several batches of drift cards were released as part of this exercise, for different purposes. Yellow and orange cards were scattered on the water to simulate pollutants released from the vessels involved in the exercise scenario. Green cards were distributed on beaches, to simulate shoreline oiling impacts and marine debris.
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Q. When and where were the cards released?
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| A. One thousand yellow drift cards were released at 9 AM on August 9th, at approximately 37°39.0'N, 122°38'W, to simulate pollutant being continuously released from the fuel barge Dottie. Similarly, 1000 orange cards were released at noon that day, at approximately 37°49.5'N, 122°41.5'W, to simulate sheening from the M/V Blue Harp, due to the collision.
In addition, 1000 green cards were scattered on various beaches very early in the morning of the exercise. Approximately 500 green cards were scattered on the beach at Fort Funston, about 400 cards at Baker Beach, and about 100 at Crissy Field. Some of these cards were marked to represent different types of debris, for the responders who were conducting shoreline assessments:
- Cards with no holes in them represented oil on the beach.
- Cards with two holes in the corners represented oiled, fishing-related debris.
- Cards with four holes in the corners represented oiled, land-based debris.
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Q. Does the distribution of drift cards really indicate where oil or marine debris would beach?
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| A. Not necessarily. Drift cards provide a convenient way for us to "simulate" a pollutant or debris when we conduct a response exercise; however, a number of things can affect where oil or debris might go in a real incident. For example, the properties of a pollutant are unique and will be different than those represented by a drift card. Factors such as density, surface tension, and viscosity are important in determining a pollutant's spreading and movement. Those properties change over time as the pollutant weathers and evaporates. Obviously, the properties of a drift card don't change much. In addition, the movement of oil or debris is very dependent on the specific environmental conditions at the time of the release and during its movement. These cards were released during our exercise and only represent their movement under those environmental conditions and from that particular release point. Longer-term studies are necessary to make any general statements about what might happen under different conditions or from different release locations.
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Q. What does a drift card look like?
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| A. The drift cards used in this exercise are thin pieces of wood, about 6 inches [10 cm] wide by 4 inches [15 cm] tall, coated with non-toxic paint. You can view a photo of one here.
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Q. How can I contact you to tell you about a drift card I've found?
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A. There are several ways to let us know about your find:
- Use the reporting form on our Web site.
- Send email to the Safe Seas Team
- Send a postcard to us:
NOAA Safe Seas Drift Card Study
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Bldg 3 / N-ORR1
Seattle, WA 98115
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Q. Your Web reporting form tells me to enter a number, but I don't see a number on the card I found. Where's the number?
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| A. Our apologies! We thought our instructions were clear, but they weren't. (Thanks to all who let us know!) We've adjusted the instructions on the reporting form, so you should find them much clearer now.
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Q. How precise does the information need to be when I report where I found a card?
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| A. Geographic coordinates are helpful, but not essential. If you are relating the location to landmarks, please roughly estimate distances and orientation (e.g., "We found this drift card about one mile south of the Pacifica Pier in Pacifica, CA.")
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Q. Where have the cards gone?
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| A. Check our Drift Card Results page for a map showing where the orange, yellow, and green cards have been found and reported to us.
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Q. Won't your experiment contribute to the problem of trash on our beaches?
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| A. The worst beach trash problems are items like plastics, or things that take a very long time to biodegrade. In contrast, our drift cards are made of thin pieces of wood, coated with a non-toxic paint, and are specially designed to biodegrade within a few months in the marine environment. As we run our study, we are careful to comply with relevant laws and regulations, especially MARPOL Annex V (33 CFR 151), which was intended to protect our oceans and coasts from trash and garbage.
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Q. How many cards did you expect to be found and reported back to you?
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| A. That's quite difficult to predict. The number of cards reported to us mostly depends on the weather and environmental conditions at, and shortly after, the release of the cards. Sometimes, cards are blown onshore quite quickly by the wind, and other times, they float for a long time before beaching. Because this release was part of an exercise that was conducted in a relatively densely populated area, we are hoping for a fairly high (>50%) rate of return.
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Q. What does the date when a card is found tell you?
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| A. It does not tell us how long it took the card to float from its release location to the location where someone found it, since the card might have remained on the beach for some time before someone noticed it. It does tell us the maximum length of time it took for the card to get to that location, and generally gives us some idea of how long it might take for floating material to travel between those two locations.
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Q. What if people find a lot of cards at a particular location?
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| A. That finding might indicate that the location is a "collection beach," at least at some times of the year. A collection beach is a coastal location where floating materials--driftwood, Styrofoam products, our drift cards, and potentially floating pollutants--naturally collect.
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