What are flotsam and jetsam?

Search: flotsam jetsam

Why: In this article about Flight 370:

All the team has to go on at the moment, said Dr. Griffin, are pixelated satellite images of objects that may just be flotsam unrelated to Flight 370.

The first time I ever heard "Flotsam and Jetsam" was in The Little Mermaid. They were moral eels and Ursula's little eel butt boys.

Answer: They are terms for shipwreck debris!

• flotsam - the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water
• jetsam - goods deliberately cast overboard as to lighten a vessel or improve its stability in an emergency, which sink where jettisoned or are washed ashore  

So flotsam floats, but jetsam has been jettisoned. That is easy.

Source: Dictionary.com

The More You Know: There is a secret third related term:

• lagan - anything sunk in the sea, but attached to a buoy or the like so that it may be recovered

And there's also this shitty band and this song, which was posted by 666graveviolator666: