- 2 - 



In general the circulation in the Gulf of liaine comprises a 

 counter clockwise eddy. The drift along the Maine - Massachusetts 

 coast is southerly, on the order of 2 - 6 miles per day (U - 13 cia/sec). 

 The southerly part of the circulation, i.e. in Massachusetts Bay is 

 comprised of two drifts, one anti- clockwise around Cape Cod Bay, and 

 one across the mouth of Massachusetts Bay toward the outer coast of 

 Cape Cod and thence southerly. The drift from Georges Bank is generally 

 west during the spring and summer but more offshore and perhaps even 

 easterly during the autumn and winter. 



South of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York the coastal 

 drift tends to be westerly, 3-5 miles per day, (6-11 cm/sec) and 

 from the offing of New Jersey southward to Cape Hatteras the set is 

 southerly with speeds varying from 5 - l5 miles per day (11 - 32 cm/sec). 



From Cape Hatteras to Georgia the surface non-tidal drift 

 tends northeasterly at speeds of 0.2 to 12 miles per day, (.U to 26 cm/sec) 

 with the highest concentrations of drift bottle strandings on the southern 

 side of the Capes. From Georgia to Daytona Beach the set appears to be 

 southerly and from Daytona Beach south the drift appears to be northerly 

 (unpublished data) . 



Redfield and Walford (19^1) noted that "wastes likely to be 

 transported to beaches in the sui-face layers should be carried at least 

 10 miles to sea if contamination of beaches is to be avoided". The 

 percentage frequency of strandings of drift bottles from areas off the 

 U. S. coast. Figure 1, indicates the variation in what may be construed 

 as onshore or offshore areas of drift. The contours extend farthest 

 offshore in the Gulf of I'laine and south of Nantucket. They creep in to- 

 ward the iiouths of the Hudson River, Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. On 



