Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Tracking Trash is the story of Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who studies the movement of ocean currents. Dr. Ebbesmeyer's work has attracted attention because he has received much of his information from studying trash. It all began when his mother heard about sneakers that were washing up on a beach after a cargo ship lost one of its containers. Since then, he has tracked sneakers, Lego's, and even rubber duckies that have been accidentally spilled at sea and made their way to shore. By understanding how ocean currents move, scientists hope to solve many problems such as fish shortages and animals being caught in fishing nets. This book was very enjoyable to read and easy to understand. The pictures were large and engaging. The author did a great job at making it feel like a story while at the same time giving a lot of scientific information.

"Mr. Thompson calls the waiter, orders steak and baked potater But he leaves the bone & gristle & he never eats the skins. Then the bus boy comes & takes it, with a cough contaminates it As he puts it in a can with coffee grounds & sardine tins. Then the truck comes by on Friday & carts it all away And a thousand trucks just like it are converging on the bay." Perhaps the dumping of garbage into the bay is not quite as blatant today as it was back in 1969 when Bill Steele wrote his eco-ditty, "Garbage," but it seems that today's never-ending flow of plastic garbage into the oceans is of more dire and destructive consequence to the oceans' long-term survival than anything they've previously faced. This is one of the conclusions to be drawn from the fascinating and important TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM, AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION. Who knew that beachcombers kept meticulous logs of their finds or that they actually held conventions? Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who began his widely-publicized work with ocean currents and tracking trash when his mom asked him to figure out why hundreds of sneakers had begun washing up on beaches near Seattle, has uncovered significant clues through his ongoing communications with beachcombers. We learn in TRACKING TRASH that there are slight changes year to year in the oceans' currents and that projections of those current flows is now a well-refined science whose origins harken back to scientific work by Benjamin Franklin. The first part of TRACKING TRASH is especially entertaining to read. Huge cargo containers periodically fall from enormous cargo ships in big storms. The cargo gets loose and takes off with the currents. Many readers will be amused by the thought of eighty thousand Nike sneakers drifting eastward in the currents, of twenty-nine thousand rubber duckies and froggies bobbing merrily along, or of five million LEGO pieces breaking loose in the middle of the Atlantic. But the incidents of lost cargo are a drop in the bucket; they're less than one-fifth of the problem. The remainder, the more serious story, is of large quantities of garbage -- so much of it plastic-based -- getting flushed out of rivers and bays into the sea. Having fond memories of creating "whirlpools" with friends in little backyard swimming pools, it is not surprising to learn that when a stream of indestructible plastic garbage is continually dumped into the ocean, it will eventually come together in a big bobbing mass surrounded by circulating currents. What is impressive (or, more likely, alarming and depressing) is that a so-called Garbage Patch in the Pacific is now as big as the state of Alaska and estimated to be composed of the accumulation of six BILLION pounds of plastic this, plastic that, and plastic everything else. "What happens to this plastic trash during the decades it floats around the Garbage Patch? Not much, because plastic is one of the most indestructible ma

This book is amazing! It's a such a great story I forgot I was reading a science book. Dr. Burns managed to deliver a serious message in a manner that is down-to-Earth and never preachy. Her writing style is engaging, I felt like she was sitting in the room chatting with me. The photographs are captivating, and sometimes heartbreaking. I've recommended this children's book to several friends - all adults. It's fun to read and extremely interesting. I can't wait for Dr. Burns' next book!

What a great book. We all know we are supposed to reuse, reduce and recycle but what I did not know was how our plastic waste was effecting our oceans. What was fun about this book was that you are not lectured about the horrors of plastic waste. Instead you get an exciting view of scientists at work. They study neat things like how to predict when and where a bunch of shoes will wash to shore if they get tossed from a container ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a storm. Part of what the scientist find is a huge garbage patch in the ocean. Read the book to find out more. To top it all off the pictures are fantastic and very intriguing.

As I sit here with Tracking Trash in front of me, I am drawn in by everything from the engaging cover to the approachable, kid-friendly text to the vivid images that adorn each page. This is a book that not only explains oceanographic concepts, but also gets into subjects such as the environment, conservation, and ecology. And it's all framed in a story that not only is engaging to read, but also shows how the perseverance of a few curious people can change our understanding of the world around us. It's an important read for young and old alike.