| | |
| | |
| | | | Seattle-based oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer uses the rubber ducks and other items, such as Nike shoes, lost from ocean-going container vessels to model ocean currents. Ebbesmeyer hopes to help scientists improve their understanding of ocean currents and seasonal events. His work could help scientists predict the movement of oil spills and guide cleanup efforts, or locate missing vessels and people to guide rescue missions. | | | | | |
|
In January 1992, a container vessel traveling from Hong Kong to the Port of Tacoma encountered a large storm. Twelve containers washed overboard into the Pacific Ocean - including one filled with 29,000 rubber ducks, frogs, beavers and turtles.
Caught in ocean currents, the rubber duckies circled the globe and were found on the shores of the U.S. West and East Coasts, Japan and the United Kingdom.
|
| 10 months after the storm: | Rubber duckies appear on the shores of Alaska. |
| 1992 - 1995: | Rubber duckies circle the Pacific Ocean in an eastern direction, landing in Japan and Hawaii. |
| 1995 - 2000: | Rubber duckies ride the currents to the Bering Strait and freeze in the Arctic ice. The ice pack moves across the North Pole and deposits the ducks in the North Atlantic Ocean. |
| 2000 - 2007: | Rubber duckies travel the ocean between Maine and Massachusetts, and appear on the shores of the United Kingdom. |
The journey of the rubber duckies inspired the children's book "10 Little Rubber Duckies" by Eric Carle.