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WHOI physical oceanographer Steven Jayne released two dozen surface drifters into the ocean during the cruise. The drifters transmitted their locations back to shore while they moved with ocean currents. Combined with data from radionuclides, color-coded track lines from individual drifters indicated that the powerful Kuroshio Current acted as both a highway and a barrier, carrying much of the radiation quickly away from shore while also largely preventing it from spreading south. At the same time, Jayne’s drifters revealed the existence of a swirling eddy near the coast south of Fukushima that trapped radiation within it. For years to come, measurements of radionuclides released from Fukushima will help oceanographers like Jayne trace currents and mixing throughout the Pacific Ocean. (Steven Jayne, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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