Fleet of rubber ducks heads for dry land after 11-year Arctic odyssey

Thousands of rubber ducks and other bath-time toys are due to become the unlikely allies of oceanographers 11 years after they were cast overboard from a container ship en route from China to Seattle.
The floating flock of 29,000 ducks and their companions - turtles, beavers and frogs - is heading for the New England coast, bleached and battered after a journey around the Arctic. Oceanographers say the trip has taught them valuable lessons about the ocean's currents.

The toys were cast adrift as the container ship carrying them encountered a storm in the Pacific Ocean. They floated along the Alaska coast and reached the Bering Strait by 1995, and Iceland five years later. By 2001 they had floated to the area in the north Atlantic where the Titanic sank.

"Some kept going, some turned and headed to Europe," says Curtis Ebbesmeyer of Seattle, a retired oceanographer who's been tracking their progress. "By now, hundreds should be dispersed along the New England coast."

Dr Ebbesmeyer has been able to track the toys that have washed ashore. He said they have been a useful tool in teaching oceanography, and have shed light on the way surface currents behave.

They are also a sobering reminder that about 10,000 containers fall off ships each year.

Dr Ebbesmeyer has also tracked 3 million pieces of Lego, 34,000 hockey gloves; and 50,000 Nike trainers that were spilled in 1999.

Fred Felleman, of the environmental group Ocean Advocates, said container ships carry 95% of the world's goods and are stacked higher and wider than ever before.

"Some 30% have hazardous materials in them. They're not just spilling Nikes," he said.

This is really cool. Next time I go swimming in the Atlantic or something I'll look for some stuff floating around. also, If I need new shoes i'll go out in the atlantic hoping to find a nice ocean-worn pair of Nike's.

imagine waking up on your boat one morning surrounded by 29,000 rubber ducks" ARGGHH WERE IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE !"

Men, get your shotguns, we're going duck hunting!!!!!!

Yea! I want some of those, cool! Gimme gimme gimme.

Wait, what if they are weapons? China made tiny little bombs, sunk the ship, and are now still waiting for them to come to shore and blow up all the beach goers!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!! All those hot women in bikinis!!!

YES! its going exactly to plan! my army of ducks have made the beache head landing and now are ready to take over the world! HA HA HA!

Help me! Help me!

Down ducky down!

Where's my chicken???

In the words of Kathy Bates as she played the role of the Unsinkable Molly Brown in the Titanic:

"Well, there's something you don't see every day."

Coming this summer - Steven Spielberg's new movie "Rubber Duckies" - the beginning scene, a woman swimming nude in the night time ocean, then the music, "Buma Buma Buma, ...." She looks around and screams - surrounded by thousands of rubber duckies. The next morning, her pitiful body lies on the beach, the sheriff mystified, .....

*Naturalist voice* Here we see baby sea turtles crawling to the ocean; some will not make it, because the birds will get to them. What? This ies not a sea turtle this bird is eating! It is how you say a decoy! I guess these sea turtles get smarter and smarter every year!

my duckys have been ordered to take no prisnoers. you are all doomed! within mounths you all be under the rule of the duckys! nothing can stop me now! MUHAHAHAHAHA!

my duckys have been ordered to take no prisnoers. you are all doomed! within mounths you all be under the rule of the duckys! nothing can stop me now! MUHAHAHAHAHA!

Well me, Police Chief Brody, and some crazy Australian named Quint are coming out on the Orca to stop your rubber duckies (maybe we get a bigger boat).

I wonder what those fellas on the prison island in No Escape would do with all that stuff...

Originally posted by jagdflieger

my duckys have been ordered to take no prisnoers. you are all doomed! within mounths you all be under the rule of the duckys! nothing can stop me now! MUHAHAHAHAHA!

Well me, Police Chief Brody, and some crazy Australian named Quint are coming out on the Orca to stop your rubber duckies (maybe we get a bigger boat).

NEVER ! my duckies have had the best traing and are meaner than than anything you can imagine! not to mention they are highy skilled in martial arts and hand to hand combat. you will never beat them. the best thing you can do is put your head between yer legs and kiss yer ass goodbye!

Posted by Crazyivan
NEVER ! my duckies have had the best traing and are meaner than than anything you can imagine! not to mention they are highy skilled in martial arts and hand to hand combat. you will never beat them. the best thing you can do is put your head between yer legs and kiss yer bottom goodbye!

Well we got a bigger boat and we will be bringing Hilary Clinton, Barney, and Ashcroft along. We will just show you duckies the three of them and they will scatter to the four winds. Then Quint, Brody, and I will destroy your duckies one by one. Hell we might even have time to get some shark fishing in. Hear there is a big one out there.