Lost buoy from national park off Florida coast turns up 4,000 miles away, officials say

Buoys are designed to be unmissable, but one slipped through the fingers of the National Park Service off the Southwest Florida coast and resurfaced on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, officials say.

One minute, it was at Dry Tortugas National Park and then, all of a sudden, it was in France. The national park is about 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.

“A few weeks ago, the community of Perros-Guirec in Brittany, France, found a yellow can buoy washed up on their rocky coastline,” Dry Tortugas National Park wrote in a June 4 Facebook post.

“The boundary marker buoy had broken loose from its moorings in Dry Tortugas and had traveled on ocean currents for an adventure of over 4,000 miles!”

By coincidence, the discovery was reported by an American living in Perros-Guirec, according to French news outlet Le Tregor. Cyrus Di Tommaso credited his son, Roman, with finding the buoy, the outlet said.

The family found a phone number for Dry Tortugas National Park etched into the buoy and used it to contact park officials.

A discussion was held over what to do with “The Little Buoy That Could,” and park officials say the French have decided to keep it.

“Residents of Perros-Guirec have adopted it and installed it at their miniature harbor, Port Miniature Perros Guirec, a tourist attraction with electric boats for children and families,” park officials said.

“The buoy now proudly displays both the American and Breton flags, representing its origins and new home. ... We see a children’s book in the making!”

The buoy’s journey was made via the Gulf Stream, a warm current that flows from South Florida to Canada, then crosses the North Atlantic to Europe, experts say. The Gulf Stream averages about 4 mph.

It’s the second time this year a marker has drifted away from South Florida to Europe.

In April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported a navigational marker from Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary had been recovered 4,300 miles away in Scotland.

The yellow buoy was part of a “Fishing Lobstering Collecting” program in the Elbow Sanctuary Preservation Area, officials said.

This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 7:31 AM with the headline "Lost buoy from national park off Florida coast turns up 4,000 miles away, officials say."