Churned up from the ocean depths by a storm or lobbed into the waves by a human hand, a motley stew of trash and treasure has floated to shore across time and countless miles, and has influenced our lives in innumerable ways. Join author and "flotsamist" Skye Moody as she uncorks the origins of things the tide brought in. Societies the world over have fashioned pigments and dyes, jewelry, medicine, cosmetics, talismans, houses, and entire religions from what they found on the beach. Missives in bottles were once the preferred communication method of the British Naval Intelligence. Yet the postindustrial age has seen no decline in the sea's bounty. Dig deeper to learn why hardened whale spittle amplifies the human sex drive and has been valued as highly as gold. And lastly, explore the darker side of flotsam and jetsam: the syringes and other medical waste poisoning our waters and marking an era of global pollution and biological warfare.--From publisher description.