A message In a bottle Oct 14, 2012 By Anita Ramachandran

Oct 14, 2012 By Anita Ramachandran

In April, four-year-old Jasmine threw a bottle carrying a message into the English Channel in Dorset, UK. She hoped her aunt who lived downstream would get the message.

In September, Barbara Richards was combing the beach for shells in Largs Bay Beach near Adelaide, Australia. She chanced upon a bottle washed ashore with a message in it -- from little Jasmine! In an incredible journey lasting five months, the bottle had travelled nearly 10,000 miles literally across the globe to another hemisphere altogether.

How did the bottle manage to travel across these oceans? We follow the bottle’s journey.

Map of bottle's possible route from UK to Australia

We have all seen water flowing and it is not stationary. Currents refer to the motion of water. They are found in rivers, ponds, marshes and even swimming pools. Oceans however have an intricate system of currents. In fact there are two distinct types of currents in oceanic waters.

Currents found on the ocean surface up to 100 mts in depth are called surface currents. They affect wave and land formations. As winds blow across the ocean, they pull on the water's surface and the buildup of energy forms waves. This energy is released when waves break on the beach and create longshore currents that move parallel to the shore. As these currents travel, they pick up sediment and transport it down the beach in a process known as longshore drift.