Sanctuary Buoy Makes Epic Journey to United Kingdom

If Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary buoys could earn travel miles, a yellow, 32-inch Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA) boundary marker would be certified platinum following a 4,400-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The buoy, believed to be from Western Sambo SPA near Key West, turned up on a beach near the small fishing village of Haverigg, located in the upper reaches of the United Kingdom.

“It’s not unusual for Mother Nature to separate a buoy from its mooring, and we have seen them turn up along the east coast of Florida as far north as Melbourne,” said Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Sarah Fangman. “But this journey was unusual in many ways.”

For instance, the buoy needed to remain in the Gulf Stream until it cleared the coast of North Carolina, before favoring the North Atlantic Drift over the more southerly Canary Current. Once on a path toward northwest Europe, it would have been caught in the North Atlantic Current, sent up through the Celtic Sea, and then through St. George’s Channel where it passed into the Irish Sea past the Isle of Man before settling along the shore of Cumbria, a ceremonial county in North West England, bordering Scotland.

Local resident Alison Smith happened upon the bright buoy during a routine walk along the wide beachscape, jotted down identifying information and alerted the sanctuary. Without knowing exactly when the buoy was set free, NOAA experts who specialize in hindcast modeling can only guess how long it took for the buoy to make it to the UK. Their estimates range from months to years.

In the meantime, there are no plans to retrieve the buoy.