Judging by the manufacturer data, the “unidentified floating object” recovered from the waters of Maqueda Channel by fishermen from Caramoran last week is likely an instrument used by scientists in studying the ocean.
A group of fishermen from barangay Dariao sighted the floating device at 12 noon of May 6 in the sea and promptly informed barangay captain Abraham Sales of their find.
Accompanied by personnel of the 2nd Police Mobile Force Company, 3rd Maneuver Platoon, at the Sabloyon detachment headed by PLt. Jeffrey Gidoc, the village chief subsequently turned over the blue-colored object to the Caramoran police station.
An examination of the device, which the police believed to be a tracking device, showed it had the following markings: body number ARG06000m-08; serial number 61-5935; part number 61 7000m; and the manufacturer’s name – Seabird Scientific based at Belleveu, Washington, USA, as well as its email account and contact number.
According to its website, Sea-Bird Scientific is the world’s largest developer and manufacturer of products for the measurement of salinity, temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, nutrients and related oceanographic parameters in marine waters.
The tools are used around the world by ocean researchers, resource managers, and key industries engaged in offshore exploration and ocean resource utilization, it said.
Its customers include research institutes, ocean observing programs, oil companies, national and local government agencies, oil companies, engineering firms, environmental consulting businesses, and navies throughout the world, with their products are used in numerous critical environmental research and monitoring efforts.
These studies include topics ranging from determining the ocean’s role in, and the associated impact from, climate changes, to the monitoring of environmental impacts of major episodic events such as oil spills and tsunamis, the company stated.