Curtis Ebbesmeyer holds a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington. Media worldwide have turned to his expertise on ocean currents and floating objects. Each year, he presents a booth and talks at beachcomber fairs in Alaska, Florida, and Washington, as well as hosting the radio program Flotsam Hour, in which listeners call in with interesting flotsam (like Antiques Roadshow for ocean currents). Four times a year he publishes a newsletter, Beachcombers' Alert!™, telling of interesting flotsam reported to the headquarters of the Beachcombers' and Oceanographers' International Association. He is also the author of Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How a Man's Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science (Collins/Smithsonian), a captivating account of the man who turned beachcombing into a science.
The consummate expert on the topic of ocean currents and flotsam, Ebbesmeyer has spoken at universities, museums, aquariums, and societies and organizations all over. He has appeared countless times on television and radio including Larry King Live, CNN, ABC, Discovery Channel, BBC, and NPR. He has also appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide including People, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News and World Report.
Ebbesmeyer graduated college as a mechanical engineer in the mid-1960s and went to work for Mobil/Standard Oil, which helped finance the doctorate studies that made him the company's first oceanographer. Years of traveling the world gave him an intimate knowledge of how ocean movements affect oil rigs, but he grew increasingly fascinated by sea currents and eddies and began to focus on beaches, more specifically on debris deposited there. An epiphany came in May 1990 when a Pacific storm knocked five containers filled with thousands of athletic shoes off a cargo vessel. Nearly a year later, the shoes began washing up along the West coast of North America. With the help of a surprisingly large and cooperative fraternity of beachcombers, Ebbesmeyer tracked the progress of the shoes up and down the coast and as far as Hawaii, producing a groundbreaking study of ocean currents.
Even audiences with little interest in ocean science will be riveted by Ebbesmeyer's story of the epic travels of oceanic trash; the entertaining explanations of how floating debris guided Christopher Columbus and the Vikings to safe harbors; the horrific stories of men adrift at sea; how flotsam may have triggered the origin of life; and frighteningly, the warnings of the threat that an increasing avalanche of plastic waste poses to the oceans.
He lives in Seattle, WA.
Praise for Curtis Ebbesmeyer:
"Curt Ebbesmeyer has spoken at the Cocoa Beach Public Library annually for the last decade and each year the audience grows larger. This year, following the publication of his book, Flotsametrics and the Floating World, he drew the largest audience we've ever had at a library program - 175 people jammed into our meeting room. Curt may be an oceanographer, but he is treated like a rock star in Cocoa Beach. His talks combine his scientific knowledge of oceans and ocean currents with his signature wit and warmth and wonder. His deep curiosity for why things are the way they are informs his lectures. And his talks - though based on real hard science - are never dry. They are as cool as the ocean, and as inviting. I recommend all my library colleagues jump in and go for a swim!"
-- Ray Dickinson, Director, Cocoa Beach Public Library
"Curtis Ebbesmeyer gave a fascinating talk and visual presentation at the Seattle Central Library about Flotsametics and the Floating World. More than 100 people attended the program, on a beautiful, fall Saturday afternoon. Curt's still and animated slides add enormously to a reader's appreciation of the book. To read about the ocean's currents and gyres is one thing; to see how flotsam and ocean trash gather and move around is quite another. Envisioning a garbage patch twice the size of Texas becomes possible only when you see Texas overlaid on that patch. Two photos in particular provoked audible gasps from the audience: one, of the array of stuff (500 pieces: Bic lighters, toys, bottle caps, and more) found in the digestive tract of a dead albatross chick, and the other, of a ship with several containers askew, about to fall into the ocean. Curt's enthusiasm for his topic is infectious; he is an engaging speaker with an important message. He doesn't have to beat you over the head with it; just show the photos and tell the stories."
-- Chris Higashi, Program Manager, Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library