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.'"

Comments

How can they identify one ducky from another?

[apathy maybe]

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?

Re:this will eventually turn into a pixar movie.

[WIAKywbfatw]

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.)

Re:this will eventually turn into a pixar movie.

[khedron the jester]

*ducks*

So this is how it ends *sniff*

[Agilus]

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?!?

Re:£50 bounty, for a duck?

[Hanners1979]

Collect them all, and win a PlayStation 3!