ERISKAY, Isle of South Uist — A bright-yellow buoy was found near a Scottish island after drifting out to sea 4,300 away from its home near the Florida Keys.
NOAA Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary recognized their bright-colored navigation marker last week from pictures sent by Mary Ann Macintyre of Eric’s Isle off the coast of Scotland, according to a NOAA Facebook post.
The marine sanctuary says the tracker “escaped from the Elbow Sanctuary Preservation Area in the Upper Keys and went on an epic journey” to the Isle of Eriskay, which is one island of 900 islands off the coast of northern Scotland, the post said. The discovery is described as “Eriskay’s most fascinating arrival since the 1941 grounding of a boat carrying 57,000 bottles of malt whisky.”
According to an article from the Miami Herald, it states the buoy was likely swept up by the Gulf Stream, which flows from South Florida to Canada and rushes through the Atlantic Ocean, branching off into the British Isles.
It might’ve also been on this journey for three years, according to the Herald’s calculations, as the average speed of the stream is 4 miles per hour.
The sanctuary did not say whether they will recover the buoy; only saying that the “buoy must be thirsty....,” in their Facebook post.