Plastic Duckies and Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer

WWW.SEABEAN.COM HOME PAGE

Things That Float MAIN PAGE

Plastic Duckies
aka
Rubber Duckies

Although this website is dedicated to sea-beans,
"things that float and wash ashore" are often of interest to sea-beaners, in particular these ducks.
The following is a compilation of links on the subject.

Plastic duckies, often referred to as "rubber duckies" in the press, have been floating in the ocean ever since 1992 when they were liberated from a container which was lost from a ship due to high seas. The process is closely monitored by Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer. Duckies of interest have "The First Years" imprinted on their side. Finding one of these ducks could get you a $100 savings bond reward!

The following links-chronology can be followed to inform oneself about the container spill that started it all, but also become informed of oceanic currents and efforts to study them to predict transport and dispersal of a variety of items or matierial inadvertently deposited into the ocean.

On Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer's website: Beachcombers Alert there is a page that has drift model output from OSCURS (Ocean Surface CURrent Simulations) that shows the predicted/actual drift of the duckies lost from a container ship. Access the Beachcombers Alert site and click on the "Photos" button. From there, click on "North Pacific toy spill"

New website: Odysea gumených kaciciek

Other links of note, found via the above web page... it's getting crazy out there!

I found a duck - the world's first online / offline global plastic duck race

PLASTIC DUCKS - the official IFoundADuck resources portal

Other stories about duckies are mentioned:

1. Visit www.beachcombers.org then click on "Latest Alert"

then click: "Summer 2000 Beachcombers' Alert Newsletter"

then click "Rubber Duckies" for the article: Like Rubber Duckies Across the Pacific - by Pete Salisbury

2. Rubber Duckies and Seabeans and Turtles, Oh my!

Reprinted courtesy of the author, Susan Bleiberg, and Lake Chapala Review. August 2004

3. A new book about the ducks: 10 Little Rubber Ducks - by Eric Carle

Why oceanographers love plastic duckies

Pacific Toy Spill Fuels Ocean Current Pathways Research - lecture notes by: Ebbesmeyer & Ingraham

Pacific Toy Spill Fuels Ocean Current Pathways Research - October 1994

If all is ducky with ocean currents, tub toys could reach Cape in 2002 - Oct. 12, 1995

Lost Sea Cargo: Beach Bounty or Junk? - National Geographic, Janice Podsada, HeraldNet, June 19, 2001

Plus some 2003 web links:

Rubber Ducks Make Cross-Oceanic Voyage - NPR, July 8, 2003

Duckies now call the ocean their bathtub - July 8, 2003

Far-Flung Bathtub Toys (Rubber Ducks) Due in New England After Floating for 10 Years - July 11, 2003

Rubber Duckies Find A Way Home - July 14, 2003

Wanted dead or alive: Rubber Ducky - July 23, 2003

Bucks for ducks all at sea - July 26, 2003

Rubber Duckies Map The World - CBS News, July 31, 2003

Drifting rubber duckies chart oceans of plastic - Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor, July 31, 2003

Thousands to invade Boston by sea - Noreascon Four, July 31, 2003

Duckplanet Home: Rubber Ducks, Rubber Ducks and more Rubber Ducks - August, 2003

Rubber duckies wash ashore after 11 years - August 1, 2003