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Today, let’s talk little plastic ducks. Every little kid plays with at least one at bathtime. He (or she) floats it through the bubbles, holds it under the water and lets it pop to the surface, or maybe pounds it against the water in a vain attempt to help mom wash the bathroom floor.
So what could little plastic ducks possibly have to do with history? I suppose I could make up a story about a freighter that was coming to America when a container of ducks fell overboard, broke, and spilled its contents into the ocean. What’s more, my story would continue with the ducks not sinking, but actually floating all over the place while providing valuable data for oceanographers. Pretty cool, huh?
But why make up a story when it actually happened? On January 10, 1992, a freighter was coming from China (isn’t pretty much everything made there now?) with a load of freight. Included was a crate of Friendly Floaties plastic water toys, produced for The First Years company. On its way to Tacoma, the freighter ran into nasty weather and a dozen giant containers (including the one holding the bath toys) fell overboard.
The container broke, spilling nearly 30,000 toys into the central Pacific Ocean. Their cardboard containers quickly rotted away and the toys (the ducks shown above as well as turtles and frogs) were free to float.
And that’s what they’ve been doing…for more than 15 years. The first ducks washed ashore on Alaska around Thanksgiving of 1992. Some finally made to their original destination when they were found on Washington’s coast in 1996. Others have headed toward Australia and Japan. Those making the longest journey have ventured north through the Bering Strait, east through the Arctic Ocean, and south. Some of these were found off the eastern United States and across the Atlantc Ocean in the British Isles as late as 2007.
And more will probably be found as the years pass. Like I said, oceanographers learned early on about the Friendly Floaties, and have been tracking their movements for years. Comparing their travels to existing computer models has allowed these scientists to learn even more about the ocean currents.
If you want even more information on these real-life “Moby Ducks”, a search of “Friendly Floaties” using Google will turn up a bunch of hits. There have been a couple children’s books written about it as well.
It’s a goofy story, but it’s the kind of thing the just fascinates me, and it’s what helps make Today’s History Lesson so much fun for me.
Recommended Reading: RubaDuck.com – You love ducks. They love ducks. Check the News section. For the kids, check out 10 Little Rubber Ducks.
