Tracking A Missing Buoy’s 4,000-Mile Trip From Florida To Scotland

It's a tale of against-the-odds survival that has been told in any number of feel-good Hollywood movies. But let’s not get too sentimental … we’re talking about an inanimate object here.

The Eriskay discovery

Just 143 people inhabit the island where a navigation buoy recently washed ashore, prompting an investigation that traced back to the East Coast of the United States.

Specifically, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary received a message from an Eriskay resident that the object appeared to have originated with the organization.

Here are some of the details that have surfaced in recent days:

• The buoy didn’t contain GPS or any internal tracking devices
• It only had stickers identifying it as property of the U.S. government
• The journey across the Atlantic spanned a whopping 4,000 miles

Sanctuary spokesperson Scott Atwell said the agency didn’t even know the buoy was missing until receiving word from across the ocean.

“Sometimes they just disappear or wash up somewhere on the coast of Florida,” he said. “A couple of times I’ve personally been to the West Palm Beach area to pick them up. It just depends on the wind and the tides where they end up.”

Highlighting history

As the story of the buoy’s journey began to spread on social media, so did interest in the island’s historical claims to fame.

Nearly 300 years ago, Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of deposed British King James II led the so-called “Jacobite Rebellion,” which ultimately failed but involved landing on Eriskay. About two centuries later, a cargo ship carrying whiskey and Jamaican banknotes ran aground there, inspiring a book and film both titled “Whisky Galore.”

As Atwell concluded: “I can understand the fascination with our buoy. It’s just a more modern way to tell the Whisky Galore story, right?”

Chris Agee April 22nd, 2024

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