Safe Seas 2006 Drift Card Study

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) conducted an emergency response exercise, "Safe Seas 2006," on August 7-11 in the Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries.

One component of the exercise is the modeling of floating pollutants. In this case, the spilled oil was simulated by the release of hundreds of drift cards at the site of the hypothetical spills.

The research has shown that the beaches north of the Golden Gate Bridge would be hit particularly hard in a major offshore oil spill. Scientists dumped 3,000 biodegradable so-called "drift cards" ten miles out from the Golden Gate.



In theory, very few of the cards should have ended up on Marin's shores. But currents that twist and turn delivered more than expected to the popular beach.