Slashdot Mirror
Thousands of Rubber Ducks to Finally End Journey
Bert de Jong writes "The Daily Mail reports that thousands of rubber ducks who have traveled the seas of the world since 1992 are about to end their journey. After escaping out of a container fallen off a Chinese freight ship in a storm, scientists have been followed them on their fifteen year trek. This has turned out to be an invaluable source of information for studying ocean currents. Now it seems inevitable though that they will finally land on the shores of South-West England. '[Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer] correctly predicted what many thought was impossible - that thousands of them would end up washed into the Arctic ice near Alaska, and then move at a mile a day, frozen in the pack ice, around their very own North-West Passage to the Atlantic. It proved true years later and in 2003, the first Friendly Floatees were found, frozen and then thawed out, on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and Canada. So precious to science are they that the US firm that made them is offering a £50 bounty for finding one.'"
I think I've just come up with a new money making scheme!
1) Goto shop and purchase large amounts of rubber duckies
2) Emerse them in water and ice for a few years and so
3) Sell them to this company for 50 pounds each
4) Profit!
More seriously, maybe scientists should be getting more brightly coloured floating objects and chucking them in the sea at various points. What about red for Russia (two types, one for each coast), yellow for (no I won't go there...) and various other colours for other countries.
A great way to learn more about ocean currents.
But they would get into trouble with (some) environmentalists, maybe they need to just "accidentally" knock a few more crates overboard?
I wank in the shower.
As a native of the South-West of England I for one welcome our new faded yellow Chinese rubber duck overlords.
22,000 rubber ducks = ~3 million US dollars
Who wants to go to an Artic Expedition, we're mining ducks....
That or Michael Moore documentary.
Thanks for the post, I saw "the daily mail is reporting" and didn't even think of reading the article. It turned out to be quite interesting despite me spending the whole time reading it thinking - how are they going to make this a "Thousands of Chinese immigrants ready wash onto UK shores - Labour to blame" story
If this were really happening, what would you think?
That or Michael Moore documentary.
I think you mean a duckumentary...
(I thank you, I thank you. Don't forget to tip your waitresses, etc.)
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Yes, replacing the Council with faded yellow Chinese rubber ducks might actually be an improvement.
Pining for the fjords
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Quack comedian.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
So here is the link to a more sensible website:
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn121
You might be a paleneck if:
You complain about pics of scantily-clad babes distracting you from the article about frozen rubber duckies.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Talk about giving everybody the worst possible guide of everyday British life...
That's ok, it's not like we American's don't have anything to be embarrassed about either ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
*ducks*
You were a great band, Journey! Who could have known that you would be mobbed and killed by thousands of rubber ducks!?!? What did you do to deserve this fate?!?
hackshop.com - My tech hobby project hub
Q. Where do you think all the fish in the sea go to shit?
A. The water closet!
You'd think you could spot tens of thousands of brightly colored rubber ducks on Google Earth/Maps, ya think? Anyone have links?
Collect them all, and win a PlayStation 3!
At the bottom of the