Flotsam and jetsam
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- For other uses, see Flotsam and jetsam (disambiguation).
Traditionally, Flotsam and jetsam are words that describe goods of potential value that have been thrown into the ocean. There is a technical difference between the two: jetsam has been voluntarily cast into the sea (jettisoned) by the crew of a ship, usually in order to lighten it in an emergency; while flotsam describes goods that are floating on the water without having been thrown in deliberately, often after a shipwreck.
In modern usage, flotsam also includes driftwood, logs and other natural debris in oceans and waterways.
Ligan (or lagan), describes goods that have been marked by being tied to a buoy so that its owner can find and retrieve it later.
Derelict is property which has been abandoned and deserted at sea by those who were in charge without any hope of recovering it. This includes vessels and cargo.
One famous recent example of flotsam occurred in the Pacific Ocean in 1992, when thousands of rubber ducks and other toys manufactured by The First Years corporation went overboard during a storm. The rubber ducks were scattered across three oceans (the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic), and many have been found; scientists have used the incident to gain a better understanding of ocean currents. Similar incidents have happened, with the same potential to track currents, with containers of Nike sneakers. Most goods lost overboard sink, of course.
The differences among flotsam, jetsam, and ligan are occasionally of consequence in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. On land the distinction between deliberate and accidental loss led to the concept of Treasure Trove.
See also
External links
- Drifting rubber duckies chart oceans of plastic - article from the Christian Science Monitor, July 31, 2003.
- Rubber Duckies Map The World - the story as told on 31 July 2003 by CBS News (includes a link to a video with oceanographer Curt Ebbesmeyer, who studied the movement of the rubber ducks across the oceans)