Big Boy:
At first we thought that Big Boy sank barely 6 miles south of the releasing point, between Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach Florida (see point 2). However we received a call that a large buoy was found by a nice couple at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach. Crystal unfortunately was lost at sea as well so before arriving to the beach to save the buoy we were unsure whether it was Crystal or Big Boys remains. We drove about an hour and 20 minutes south to a nearby restaurant that the nice couple dragged Big Boy behind. We found him in shambles and dragged him back safely to the car. Much to our dismay his GPS had not made it. It must have gotten knocked off right at point 2 where it indicated Big Boy had sunk. He was also much to damaged in hope for any quick repair and second send off. So as of now Big Boy’s journey was very short but not so sweet.
1. The release location of the buoys.
2. This is where Big Boy’s GPS had become detached.
Crystal:
Now, sadly Crystal has been decapitated and her body was lost at sea. If her body does wash up shore somewhere we are hoping someone will find her and let us know since we put JU’s number in multiple places on the buoy. The head (aka the pink water jug with the GPS on top) washed ashore at Guana Tolomato Matanza National Estuarine Research Preserve, a 73,352 acre protected area just south of Jacksonville. (see right for photo map) It was found by a state trooper who was on search for debris from a boat that has recently disappeared. When he came across Crystal’s head he cut her open and dissected the GPS, convinced it was either drugs or a bomb. Much to our surprise he found nothing and discarded Crystal’s head into a dumpster. Our advisor Dr. Stalker went after the GPS and went dumpster diving trying to locate all the parts for our disassembled GPS. Who could blame him they don't come cheap!
Wilson:
We finally have some good news for you so don’t lose hope yet! Wilson has made it out in one piece from the release and is still sprinting down the East coast of Florida. He gave us quite a few scares getting too close to the shore for comfort but he is still intact and headed south. He has been riding within a 3-4 mile radius from the shore, which is still uncomfortable close. Overnight on March 3rd to March 4th Wilson rode less than a half a mile off shore at Ormond Beach just North of Daytona Beach (Point 1) where we were sure he was doomed for land.
To make our analysis of Wilson’s travels as easy as possible for you all, we are going to explain step by step what we believe happened:
1. Point 1. This is where Wilson came only a ½ mile from the shore, making us very worried. Miraculously, he took a sharp 90 degree turn out to sea. Since 90 degree turns is a characteristic for rip currents we believe that is what happened. Rip currents form when the waves that come ashore are forced sideways by oncoming waves. This water then needs to find an escape route back into sea and they do this by taking a 90 degree turn, similar to what we saw Wilson do. Typically near the shore of Florida the current is often rather slow moving and in the Southward direction.
2. Point 2. This is where Wilson took a loop northward after being forced into the rip current. As you can see in the diagram below, when being pushed out by a rip current it only pushes you so far before it becomes weak and forces you out. So it makes sense that Wilson got forced into the “escape” route to the North, circled below.
3. Point 3. Since the rip current force is pretty weak as you go off shore so it is likely he got picked up by a different current. From here there are a couple different things that could be going on, but what we believe that he got swept up by a weak North flowing current that was still stronger than the rip current and was driven back up the coast.
4. Point 4. Here you can see the Northern wind driven current slowing down and dying.
5. Point 5. In the photo below you can see that there is a lot of Southward pulling current so it is only to be expected that once the buoy headed further out into the current the wind was overridden by the current and the buoy dragged South along with it.
6. Point 6. This is where Big Boy has ended his travels for the week, along the Canaveral National Seashore, just North of the very beautiful Cape Canaveral Florida. After riding one of the Southern currents you can see the buoy continues south and heads closer towards shore. We believe this is because a stronger longshore current got ahold of Wilson and dragged him even more south. A longshore current is simply a current that flows parallel and very close to the shore, which would explain Wilson nearing the shore. Longshore currents depend mostly on wind and waves. (encyclopedia.com)
