The Wardman Wire

Way back when in 1992, a container including 29,000 bath toys fell off a container ship in the Pacific Ocean. These ducks have drifted all over the world, and this article traces their paths and looks at some of the scientific data that have been provided.

Since then many of these have travelled on Ocean currents, including many being caught up and frozen in the Arctic ice-pack for some months. I’ve also posted a Radio Programme recorded by Clive Anderson first broadcast in June 2006 entitled “Invasion of the Yellow Ducks“. Enjoy.

Here’s a map from the International Marine Consultancy showing the drift over the years:

They have provided a comment, including a timeline:

While the ducks are undoubtedly a loss to the bath-time fun of thousands of children, their adventures at sea have proved an inn valuable aid to science.

The toys have helped researchers to chart the great ocean currents because when they are spotted bobbing on the waves they are much more likely to be reported to the authorities than the floats which scientists normally use.

And because the toys are made of durable plastic and are sealed watertight, they have been able to survive years adrift at the mercy of the elements.

The “Yellow Duck gaffer” is Curtis Ebbesmeyer of Beachcomber Alert, who reports how the ducks have provided information about ocean currents - especially in the North Pacific:

Twelve years and counting — the saga of the tots’ tub toys continues. On January 10, 1992, 28,800 turtles, ducks, beavers and frogs packed in a cargo container — called Floatees by the manufacturer — splashed into the mid-Pacific, where the 45th parallel intersects the International Date Line (44.7°N, 178.1°E). During August- September, 1992, after 2,200 miles adrift, hundreds beached near Sitka, Alaska. Twelve years later, in 2004, beachcombers were still ?nding the bath-time critters.

At Sitka’s second annual beachcomber fair held on 25 July 2004, Dean Orbison and son Tyler Orbison, 22, exhibited a hamper full of 111 toys they’d beachcombed nearby Sitka during 1993-2004. The basket held comparable numbers: 18% turtles, 35% ducks, 26% beavers, and 21% frogs. During years at sea, the ducks and beavers faded to white while the turtles and frogs remained original blue and green, respectively. Animal bites and the surf smashing them against rocks had ruptured many.

Round and Round the Garbage Patch

A “gyre” is an ocean “eddy” that is thousands of miles wide. In the North Pacific the “Garbage Patch” is a region of ocean between between two gyres (map: credit Beachcomber Alert) where drifting debris collects. The “garbage” takes so long to collect there that there is no wood, which has sunk or decayed before it arrives.

One question I have is whether a “waterproof” wood, such as Greenheart, which is used for Coastal Defence in the UK, where it lasts for decades as the framework for groynes and docks. In addition to being water-resistant, it is also suitable for direct pile-driving - reducing cost, would have made it to the garbage patch.

For Greenheart, the problem may be that it’s specific density is 97% of that of water, so it would only just float. A semi-submerged beam of Greenheart is not something you want to hit with your trimaran at 25 knots.

Pun! Pun! Pun!

Various people have commented over the months, with some truly excruciating headlines (including the one for this section):

WASH UP, DUCK! (Sunday Mirror):

The bathtime toys fell off a container ship in the Pacific in 1992 and, after drifting thousands of miles, are due to start washing up on our shores soon.

To add to the excitement, the ducks have a worldwide cult following and can change hands for as much as £1,000 a time.

Scientists monitoring ocean debris say the duck armada has hit the Gulf Stream, which circulates warm water from the Caribbean to Britain, and is about to start drifting across the Atlantic.

Drake’s other armada (Daily Mail). A good article.

Eat your heart out, Columbus. Move over, Ellen MacArthur. This may be the greatest ocean voyage in history, one that spans 14 years and thousands of miles. But the mariners who undertook this incredible journey are not hardy sailors - they’re 29,000 plastic ducks.

Of Shoes And Ships And Rubber Ducks And A Message In A Bottle (Weather Doctor). An excellent, detailed, article.

Ebbesmeyer’s next serendipitous study of the ocean currents in the North Pacific came in late 1992 when a large number of brightly coloured bathtub toys were reported on the beaches near Sitka, Alaska. These toys had been part of a shipment of containers headed from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington. In January, 1992, the container ship carrying the toys among its cargo encountered severe storm conditions near the International Date Line (44.7°N, 178.1°E). Twelve containers went overboard as the ship rolled about 40 degrees in the heavy seas. One of these 20-metre containers held a shipment of 29,000 bathtub toys.

“They’re toys for two-year olds, and they’re called Floatees, and they’re meant to go into the bathtub with the kids,” recounts Ebbesmeyer. “Each package has a green frog and a blue turtle and a yellow duck and a red beaver.”

When the container emptied the toys into the ocean, they were packed in a plastic housing glued to a cardboard backing. After about a day in the water, the glue deteriorated releasing the four toys into the sea. And, being floating toys, they began to float pushed by wind, wave and currents across the Pacific.

Wrapping-Up

This story will run for another decade. I make no promise to cover it in 2017 on the Wardman Wire.