Adrift

Canadian researchers are dropping bottles in the ocean to better understand currents and drift patterns. The bottles contain contact information for retrievers to notify the researchers.

Previous bottle drops yielded some surprising results. One far-flung "drifter" turned up in Puerto Rico after travelling about 15,000 kilometres -- almost a third of the way around the Earth -- from where it was dropped near Baffin Island four years earlier, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Pretty cool project. Of course a message in a bottle is a bit cliche and the basis for at least one really bad movie, but it does tantalize the romantic imagination. Even conjures a good Police song about loneliness. Maybe you'll find one.

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