The professor who's an expert on the Pacific Ocean currents and studied
tennis shoes [Nikes] as well as rubber duckies and all manner of other
things that get washed off of container ships from time to time is Curtis
Ebeysmeyer from the University of Washington.  He recently has retired but
has a publication called "Beach Combers Alert" where he has articles about
stuff that washes up on the beaches of the west coast of the U.S. Bert
Bartleson PNWSC

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Martin H. Eastburn
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 6:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Grove snails Kentucky

In the Pacific, trees of all sorts from Oz to Alaska are in the circulation
stream.  Egg masses and shells attach and I suspect move if more than
one log
is jammed.  These might make landfall from Japan to Mexico.  Two loops -
Northern
and southern circulation loops move warm water to cold areas.  e.g.
Japanese Current.

One point is the blue water sailboats that get masts snapped off.  These
float
about and become full of holes - and wormy.  So much so we had to get higher
grade than normal Carbide saw blades in special services to saw up beautiful
masts that made landfall on Kwaj.

It is possible, less so in many ways for shells to move backwards against
the clockwise flow in the N. Atlantic  or N. Pacific.  One way naturally
is via tsunami or tidal waves and the Typhoon or Hurricane.  Large storms
might swing floating masses 'back around'.  Thus a Hurricane / large low
could move into the area between Greenland and North America (common) and
cause surface 'retrograde' flow along the coast moving shells and eggs from
East to West.

There is a trailer load of tennis shoes that float in the great circle of
the Northern Pacific.  There is or was a research project in progress to map
the sightings and landfalls.  A ship crossing from Korea was hit by a storm
and lost several containers.  One was full of shoes.  Science channel had a
show along that line.  The shoes are going around and around making multiple
passes.  I want to say University Washington or Washington State was
mapping.

Martin

Andrew Grebneff wrote:
>> How did it get here? One theory has it that there was late Tertiary and
>> Pleistocene uplift of the Arctic lands and a land bridge existed from
>> Scotland to Iceland to Greenland to Labrador. Such a connection might
also
>> explain the European-Eastern North American distribution of other
>> landsnails, e.g., Zoogenetes harpa, certain Euconulus spp., Pupilla
>> muscorum, certain Vallonia spp., etc.
>>
>
> Unfortunately such landbridges are relics of preplate tectonic
> thinking, and are extremely unlikely. I would consider migrations
> across the Bering strait, which has been closed at times, with Siberia
> and Alaska in contact.
>
> --
> Regards
> Andrew Grebneff
> Dunedin
> New Zealand
> Fossil preparator
> Mollusc, Toyota & VW van fan
>
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--
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
"Our Republic and the Press will Rise or Fall Together": Joseph Pulitzer
TSRA: Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member. http://lufkinced.com/

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