Drift Card Reporting

More than 1,500 drift cards have been found to date! That is a recovery rate of more than 30 percent. Reports have come in from an amazing range of locations, from Vancouver, the Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, the Olympic Peninsula, all around Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Broughton Archipelago, BC’s central and north coasts and Haida Gwaii. Together, these recoveries illustrate a connection between the Salish Sea and a much larger region. They also demonstrate the tremendous potential for pollutants like oil to be transported across our coast. Our innovative study website, salishseaspillmap, shows the recoveries and drop locations by season, and allows card finders to report their own cards where they recover them – a first in drift card mapping.