The Great Nike Sneaker Spill of 1990 By Max, Joe, Temuujin, and Lelia-Noor SHOES FROM THE SNEAKER SPILL THE STORY OF THE SNEAKERS (CONT.) The Story of the Sneakers By Max The Hansa Carrier had been In 1990, a person named Curtis Ebbesmeyer worked carrying goods to the United States when it on a really interesting project involving Nike sneakers. ran into a storm in the Pacific Ocean. The His mother called him on the phone and told him about storm was vicious. Winds were close to an article that showed that there were hundreds of Nike sneakers washing up on beaches in Seattle. speeds near 60 miles per hour, creating Curtis, a scientist studying the ocean currents and really big waves. The Hansa Carrier trash at the time, was eager to get to this project. He managed to pass through the storm but then studied the problem and started his study on the had to throw 21 containers off the ship, beach where a lot of the sneakers were washing up. and five of those containers had Nike He started by walking along the beach and sneakers. Curt knew that sneakers float so asking about the sneakers to other people. Eventually three years later Curtis had collected a lot beachcombers started calling him about the problem. of information on the spill. After all the Beachcombers are people who walk along the beach beachcombers had helped him and found looking for stuff in the sand. The beachcombers told Curtis about many sneakers washing up on the shore. hundreds of running and basketball Since all the sneakers that were washing up on the sneakers around the world. Using serial beach were made from the same brand (Nike) he numbers he could identify where and when called the company. After a long period of phone calls the sneakers were spilled from the Hansa the Nike Company told him about the problem. The Carrier. Later on Curt found out where the company had lost five containers full of Nike sneakers Hansa Carrier had lost the sneakers. This Formatted: Font: 12 pt off a cargo ship, containing about 80,000 sneakers in total. They had been thrown overboard off a ship was a big help to his research. Formatted: Font: 12 pt called the Hansa Carrier. Curt believes that there are ocean currents that Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Candara), Font color: Crossword created this drift. He knows that the sneakers Text 1 By Max, Temuujin, and Lelia-Noor had to get to some of the beaches around the Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Candara), Font color: world somehow and he knows that they traveled Text 1 Formatted: Normal (Web) In 1992, the Nike sneakers were found washing up on on a drift around the world to get to their final different pieces of land. (Big island at Pololu, and on destination Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Candara), Font color: Text 1 Japanese beaches, which scientists predicted that the COMIC sneakers would wash ashore in 1994-1995). The Nike Formatted: Indent: First line: 0" sneakers were found and then sold for a quarter of the actual price. Someone claimed to buy a pair of Nikes for 20 BY JOE AND LELIA-NOOR dollars! There are two ways the spill might have affected wildlife. One is that some of the shoes might have sunk to the bottom of the sea and became homes for crabs, fish, or other aquatic creatures. However, the shoes could break down, and the animals may get sick or even die because the exterior is made of plastic. Therefore, if the sea creatures ingest the plastic, it could hurt them. We can prevent this from happening again by carrying less containers, so if the ship encounters rough waters, containers will not fall off as much as they do now. Also, we could see if the weather is rough before we go. That way, the ship wouldn’t even tilt in the first place. These are only a small amount of ideas to prevent having goods thrown overboard in the sea BIBLIOGRAPHY Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print. “Sneaker Spill Helps Teach Current Events.” Sneaker spill helps teach current events. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jun. 2015. <http://www.susanscott.net/oceanwatch2000/jan24-00.html> http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19921122&slug=1526004 Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Bold [Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Bold adipiscing elit. Ut quam turpis, tincidunt ut, rhoncus nec, sagittis vel, erat. Morbi varius. Morbi varius tincidunt odio.] Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Bold OCEAN CURRENTS BY MAX AND JOE Diagram of the Ocean Currents en.wikipedia.org The ocean has many currents flowing throughout the world. One day, a ship decided to brave a storm. What What Happened When People Found the Formatted: Centered happened on that unusual day was that hundreds of Nike Sneakers? sneakers were thrown overboard because the ship had too much weight in the storm. The ship, the Hansa Carrier had By Lelia-Noor dropped tons of Nike sneakers off the ship in the North Pacific Ocean from Korea to the United States in the middle of a severe storm. What most people would’ve In the spring of 1990, Nike sneakers started to wash thought was that all the shoes would have sunk to the up on the shore of beaches in Oregon and Washington bottom of the ocean, but that didn’t happen. Sstate. When people saw the Nikes on the beach, they took them home. However, they were not usually in The Nike sneakers ended up floating instead of sinking pairs. So, people went to swapping conventions where and instead of staying in the same spot the whole time, they would trade sneakers to get a pair that matched. and they ended up on Pacific beaches. Shoes were ending In 1992, the Nike sneakers were found washing up up everywhere in the world, and nobody knew where they on different pieces of land. (Big island at Pololu, and were coming from. One person named Curtis Ebbesmeyer on Japanese beaches, which scientists predicted that wanted to find this out, so he studied really hard about the the sneakers would wash ashore in 1994-1995). The ocean currents and found valuable information. Nike sneakers were found and then sold for a quarter of the actual price. Someone claimed to buy a pair of If more trash keeps going into these currents deadly Nikes for 20 dollars! There are two ways the spill things can happen to wildlife. First, let's say some might have affected wildlife. One is that some of the mammals get caught in the water currents; then they might shoes might have sunk to the bottom of the sea and get stuck in some trash on the move. The only way this became homes for crabs, fish, or other aquatic problem will continue is if we keep polluting waterways. creatures. However, the shoes could break down, and So that plastic bag you took your sandwich out of and put the animals may get sick or even die because the in the trash can could kill an animal. Secondly, if there is a exterior is made of plastic. Therefore, if the sea lot of trash traveling in a current in the ocean it could start creatures ingest the plastic, it could hurt them. washing up on the beaches all around the world and get overwhelming. This would be bad because once it is We can prevent this from happening again by started, it might not be able to end. carrying less containers, so if the ship encounters rough waters, containers will not fall off as much as We could help the animals and the ocean currents by they do now. Also, we could see if the weather is not polluting. Not polluting is easy all you need to do to rough before we go. That way, the ship wouldn’t even help is to put stuff in the right place. For example put the tilt in the first place. These are only some of the ideas trash in the trash can instead of on the street or not where to prevent having goods thrown overboard in the sea. it’s not supposed to go. If we use less gas and not have so much factories things would be better. We could use less gas by using more electric cars and that would cause less pollution. [Type your signature(s) as teacher(s) or aide(s).] .