How and why meddies form, and how many meddies form each year, remain to be learned. Ten months later, the toys began turning up on beaches near Sitka, Alaska. By compiling data on where the toys were found, researchers have added to understanding of Pacific drift patterns. By the end of the century, toys are expected to be dispersed around the Arctic, North Pacific, and northern North Atlantic. In September 1993, salt content of waters off Florida fell from the usual 36 parts per thousand to 31 ppt.
Water coming into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi normally flows towards Texas.
This time wind changes carried the diluted water toward the Gulf Stream. For the latest in oceanography or marine biology, check these updates from the TIME Magazine Archives.