Speed Trap

The ocean near the mouth of the Columbia River, known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” has experienced an average of just over one shipwreck per year for the past two centuries. Part of the reason is the area’s strong currents and shifting shoals, which create changing (and often unseen) hazards. A team led by WHOI senior scientist Rocky Geyer traveled there in the spring of 2013 to study the factors that cause such treacherous conditions, including a remarkable 7-knot current (pictured).(Photo by Rocky Geyer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)