Ocean Current

[BobInFla]

I'm new to the forum so if I screw up please forgive me. I also haven't used a MD in over 20 years but getting back to it since retiring. So I have a question for anyone that may have experience on Florida's east coast. Can you predict which direction, north or south, something will be carried by the current if it is dropped in the surf during normal weather? I am not familiar with working in the surf so I am trying to get an idea of what to expect.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

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[Jason in Enid]

The gulf stream runs from south to north, so I would think that items would move north. I think storms tend to move things a lot more than normal tidal action. It would all depends on the storm path as to whether it pushed the waves in, out, north or south.

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

Gulf stream is miles off shore so no go there... it can go either way N or S...

 

[Diver_Down]

It depends on the time of the year. Here on the First Coast, sand tends to pile up from south to north during the summer. This is due to a weak longshore current that typically runs north to south. During the fall, winter, and spring, the longshore current dominates and sand will accumulate in a southerly direction. Of course, Nor'Easters and cold fronts can accelerate the southerly migration of sand. The Gulf Stream has no effect in the near-shore envirionment. Now, when it comes to heavy items, they tend to sink in the general area that they were lost. The shifting sand either buries them deeper or exposes them to the recoverable depth range.

 

[Smudge]

Every beach is affected differently.

I have noticed when people have lost jewelry and the detectorist recovered it for them, it was right in the area where it was dropped.

Those precious metals settle pretty fast on the bottom and get covered pretty quick too. So if you have a particular find in mind, I'd look in the same place it was reportedly lost. It probably is very close by.

 

[BobInFla]

Thanks for all the responses. Your answers pretty much confirmed my suspicions. I really appreciate the way this community works to help each other rather than being so competitive. I don't have an experienced hunting buddy so I have to rely on what I read on here a lot. The last detector that I bought was in 1971 so it has been a while since I've been in the hunt. Back then my largest find was two pickup truck loads of burglary loot that I helped local law enforcement officers recover from a suspects back yard. They couldn't find anything in his house when they served the search warrant but noticed that he had a freshly planted garden in the back yard. Talk about your large treasure caches!

 

[digum smacks]

on the east coast of florida things tend to move south ."over the years". when dropped it goes straight down deep in the sand

 

[Smudge]

Good luck in choosing your beach detector. Get a quality machine. There aren't many to choose from.

 

[bigscoop]

Assuming you're talking about the typical goodies, such as heavier gold and silver rings, etc., I like to compare the wet sand to a shaker, where the first several inches of sand is being constantly shaken and stirred. These heavier, denser items, are sucked down through this constantly moving sand until they reach a point where they can settle. So mostly they just go down.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Gold and Silver sinks fast, but wave action, and rip tides will move it over time......Heavy wave action will also move a lost ring far soon after it is lost....On New Years Day 2008 I found a silver ring a couple asked me to look for that was a Christmas gift to their son who lost it New Years Eve, it was over a hundred yards from where he lost it in front of their hotel......I gave up looking after an hour and went on my way hunting. The surf had been rough the last several days, a hundred yards down the shore I found a silver ring that said, "To Travis, Love Mom Xmas 2008" which was the exact engraving the couple told me was on the ring when I started looking....I return the ring to the couple who was still on the beach in front of their hotel......

 

[davest]

many times when someone tells you, "I lost it over here, or I lost it in knee deep water right here" they don't have a clue where they lost it.
The depth of the water changes constantly, the people move and all of a sudden they realize their gold ring, chain, medallion or whatever isn't on them.

Take all that with a grain of salt water.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

many times when someone tells you, "I lost it over here, or I lost it in knee deep water right here" they don't have a clue where they lost it.
The depth of the water changes constantly, the people move and all of a sudden they realize their gold ring, chain, medallion or whatever isn't on them.

Take all that with a grain of salt water.

What you say is true, in the story I speak of, the parents were sitting in front of their hotel when their 12 year old son who was in the water in front them, came out of the water and told his mom he had just lost his ring, a Christmas gift from his parents. When I returned it they offered me a $40.00 reward which I turned down.... My mother would have been ashamed of me if I had charged a mother to get a her Christmas gift to her son back... The parents could not believe how far away I found it......

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

If you spend any time surf fishing, a 4-6 oz pyramid sinker can move quite a distance fast when the current is ripping...

 

[tnt-k9]

Every beach is affected differently.

I have noticed when people have lost jewelry and the detectorist recovered it for them, it was right in the area where it was dropped.

Those precious metals settle pretty fast on the bottom and get covered pretty quick too. So if you have a particular find in mind, I'd look in the same place it was reportedly lost. It probably is very close by.

Smudge is on the mark with this. Although I haven't hunted a variety of places, it does seem like things lay where they've fallen/landed. Last month I found a Platinum wedding band that was probably close to 15 grams in the general vicinity where the fellow said he lost it. We had had a pretty good storm the night he lost it and he told me that he was sure it had been washed out to sea. In July I found the West Point class ring that had been lost 4 months prior to me finding it, where the young Lieutenant thought he lost it. It was in the water but it did weigh a full ounce..

 

[fladiverdown]

Take it from a former longline swordfisherman and life long ocean guy including almost ten years on the beach patrol here in soflo - the gulf stream moves from south to north. There are eddies that will "swirl" off the gulf stream and that small section may move south but the mass of water is always moving from south to north off of Florida. The Gulf Stream will at times move close to the coast but really never close enough to affect the beach. I have seen it move almost to the shore in northern Broward and Palm Beach but generally it is at least 10 (usually more) miles offshore. There have been many times when I have flown over the Gulf Stream and it is so well defined that I am amazed. We call it the hump when we cross over to the Bahamas. Happy Hunting.

 

[fladiverdown]

Hey there, a little addendum. There is a natural phenom called litoral drift that will move sand north and south according to tide and wind driven current. The city of Deerfield Beach and other municipalities have placed large rocks in the shape of a T (called a groin ) to take advantage of litoral drift. It is usually a very effective way to build up a beach on the east coast of Florida. Their are many that say it robs the neighboring cities of their sand so the controversy goes....

HH