
Drift bottle
- Made:
- 1890-1960

Drift bottle, type used from 1890-1960, for studying ocean surface currents.
For thousands of years, people have used the movements of objects floating on the surface of the ocean as a way of understanding ocean currents. Bottles like this were adopted by scientists in the 1800s, who would release them into the sea in known locations. They carried a message inside encouraging anyone who found them to break the glass, so that information could be reported back to the researchers.
Details
- Category:
- Oceanography
- Object Number:
- 1977-29
- Materials:
- glass, metal (unknown) and paper (fibre product)
- type:
- apparatus and current meters current meters apparatus and current meters
- credit:
- Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food