Science in a bottle
Teenager Bonita LeBlanc tracks ocean currents one bottle at a time
Most people toss their empty bottles in the recycling bin. Bonita LeBlanc tosses hers in the ocean. But she's not littering—she's doing science.
Bonita is a Grade 11 student from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia involved in drift bottle research. It's pretty simple: you throw biodegradable bottles over the side of a ship in the middle of the ocean and wait for them to wash ashore. Where they end up—and how long it takes them to get there—helps scientists better understand how ocean currents move.
Why does it matter? Because climate change is melting the world's Arctic ice—which means new cold water is going into the ocean. Bonita and other researchers are trying to find out if that cold water is affecting the way the oceans flow. If a bottle turns up somewhere unexpected or reaches land faster than it should, then currents could be changing, which might affect weather and temperatures all over the world.
Bonita's bottles
When she was 13, Bonita read an article about Eddy Carmack, an oceanographer (ocean scientist) who did drift bottle research off the coast of Brazil. Thinking it would make a fun science fair project, she got in touch with Eddy and asked how she could start doing drift bottle research too. Eddy told Bonita to contact the Canadian Coast Guard, which agreed to drop bottles for her from the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. (The 100 percent biodegradable bottles were donated by Sleeman Breweries.)
Bonita's job was to write a note saying why the bottles were being dropped and who to contact if they were found. Working to her favourite music, she tucked a copy of her message into hundreds of bottles, corking and coating each one with wax to make a waterproof seal.
Between 2007 and 2008, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent's crew tossed 580 of Bonita's bottles into the Arctic Ocean. In 2009, she got the chance to throw them herself.
Life on an icebreaker
As part of the International Polar Year, the Youth Science Canada program selected one lucky student to join the crew of the research ship CCGS Amundsen as it sailed the Arctic Ocean. (That student, of course, was Bonita.) While on the ship she dropped 24 of her bottles off the coast of Labrador—the last recorded experiment before the Amundsen arrived in Quebec City on November 18, 2009.
"At first, I was probably the most petrified person on the ship," she admits. "But by the time the trip was over, I didn't want to come back home!"
Photo: Natalie Cordiner / Norman LeBlanc
During the voyage, Bonita got to help out with other researchers' work. Her favourite project—besides her own—was using the 'skimmer', which collects samples from the thin top layer of water. Bonita helped analyze the samples, working closely with the more experienced scientists. One time, the skimmer's controls broke and it took off on its own—Bonita and the others had to go after it and bring it back.
An inspiring experience
While she won't miss feeling seasick or shivering through -40º C temperatures, Bonita says being on the icebreaker was incredible. The Arctic scenery took her breath away, and night after night she got to stay up late talking to scientists about their work. She even tried caribou meat for the first time that trip.
Now that she's been to the Arctic, Bonita knows a career in science is for her. She hopes to study either Oceanography or Environmental Science at university—and she definitely wants to go back on an icebreaker sometime soon. She says all students should think about exploring science.
"Just follow your imagination and creativity," she says. "You never know where it will take you."
- Date Modified:
- 2013-04-22