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Thousands of Rubber Ducks to Finally End Journey

Posted by Zonk on Mon Jul 02, 2007 05:10 AM
from the born-free-as-free-as-the-wind-blows dept.
Toys Science
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.'"
ocean duckies rubber rubberduckyyouretheone science science toy story

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[+] News: Rubber Duckies For Global Warming Research 167 comments
The Wall Street Journal has a look at global warming research using rubber duckies. The toys have been employed in tracking ocean currents since 1992; but recently NASA robotics expert Alberto Behar released 90 yellow rubber ducks into the melt water flowing down a chasm in a Greenland glacier. "Each duck was imprinted with an email address and, in three languages, the offer of a reward. If all goes well, Dr. Behar hopes that one day they will emerge 30 miles or so away at the glacier's edge in the open water of Disko Bay near Ilulissat, bobbing brightly amid the icebergs north of the Arctic Circle, each one a significant clue to just how warming temperatures may speed the glacier's slide to the sea."
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  • 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?

    • But they would get into trouble with (some) environmentalists, maybe they need to just "accidentally" knock a few more crates overboard?
      Only the completely stupid ones. As far as I'm concerned you can pour as many chemically inert (well, Ok - relatively inert) plastic ducks as are needed into where ever they are required. It's the untreated sewage/industrial waste that I object to (and plastic bags because they look like jellyfish to whales and leatherback turtles).

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by apathy maybe (922212)
        Hence the "(some)" in that quote. Personally I agree with you, and I consider my self to be an environmentalist.

        Of course, oceanographers already do this sort of thing, though not on such a large scale (with so many objects I mean). And of course, they use modern technology, including satellites (See for example http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/oceans/drifters /drifters.html [nasa.gov] ).

        In that post I was aiming for a "funny" moderation, yet it seems that there are some unamused moderators who think it is redundant

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by whatme (997566)
          There is a old phrase in the chemical and industrial sector

          Dilution is the solution to pollution.

          In fact, in some municipalities, waste into the sewer system is allowed below a certain concentration, but get above that concentration and get fined. So you can (and some do) simply add water when dumping stuff down the drain. Environmentally this makes little sense as it's the same amount of "bad stuff" going down the drain, but in the allowed case you're also "wasting" lots of water. (this ignores the iss

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by gnuman99 (746007)
          Sir, you are the second greatest moron I've read about on Slashdot.

          WTF do you think happens to shit put in the ocean? It DILUTES! It DILUTES so freaking great that now Tuna is full of Mercury and orcas (killer whales) are going nuts because of the DILUTED pollutants.

          The "dilution factor" works only if you have insignificant amount of pollution. Not cubic miles of shit dumped all over the place.

          Thank you, but your kind of thinking is why there is 10 TIMES as much plastic in the ocean than algae and phytoplan

          • Taking a blind dump? (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Gription (1006467) on Monday July 02 2007, @09:29AM (#19716375)
            And even if it was "carefully" dumped the problem is that we don't stop after getting it nice and diluted. We keep dumping a large quantity of carefully diluted pollutants into an extremely low energy ecosystem. In addition of sources of energy into a low energy ecosystem causes an extreme change in that ecosystem.

            Oh, and if you 'carefully dilute' something into the ocean by what process do you propose that you keep it from becoming undiluted? Life forms are the most efficient way to aggregate dilute substances.

            Actually this is one of the dumbest, "If I can't see anything it must not be happening" suggestions I have ever heard.
            THINK! Did it work for landfills? 'But we did such a good job of hiding it under the dirt and I can't see it there!' (Of course my well is contaminated now and I have to pipe water in...)

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by 91degrees (207121)
      The type of duck is quite specific, and it has the comapny name stamped on it. The thing about cheap plastic that that anyone can make is that there are literally thousands of variations, and the scientists are only interested in one breed. Different plastic, differnt sizes, different designs.

    • I think I've just come up with a new money making scheme!
      1) Goto shop

      Wow, old habits die hard. GOTO? How about:
      10 LET STEP1$ = "Go to shop and purchase large amounts of rubber duckies
      20 LET STEP2$ = "Emerse them in water and ice for a few years and so"
      30 LET STEP3$ = "Sell them to this company for 50 pounds each"
      40 GOTO 1000
      1000 REM Profit Routine
      1010 ...

  • this will eventually turn into a pixar movie. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by satyakam (671269) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:20AM (#19714955)
    Looks like a story tailor-made for a pixar movie. Sort of like a toy-story / finding-nemo mashup. -satyakam

  • ralph wiggum (Score:3, Funny)

    by thhamm (764787) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:21AM (#19714961)
    duck duck duck duck duck duck duck ... [youtube.com]

  • £50 bounty, for a duck? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tehSpork (1000190) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:23AM (#19714967)
    What a bunch of quacks...

    It's a pretty cool story though (shock, someone actually read TFA). I'm sure that we've learned a lot more about oceanic patterns from those plastic toys than we have from a lot of other (more expensive) methods employed in the past.

  • 1. Train ticket to West Country 2.Profit!! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by fantomas (94850) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:24AM (#19714979)
    Thousands washing up at 50 pounds a pop for returning them?

    1. Train ticket to West Country
    2. Beach scavenge
    3. Profit!!

    This will be more fun than when the Napoli [wikipedia.org] beached off Branscombe! Easier to sneak plastic ducks off the beach than BMW motorbikes....
      • You Cornish are subjects of the British Crown and will dammned well do as you're told.

        Please return to your campsites and ice cream shops and await further orders.

  • This is actually interesting... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Flying pig (925874) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:26AM (#19714993)
    and amazing that it got a reasonable and sensible write up in the Daily Mail. Perhaps now Mr. Blair has departed the Mail will be less of a feral beast (that's a UK reference for those of you in the rest of the world, don't worry about it) and more of a newspaper.

    However, given the way the climate change deniers have been trying to rubbish oceanographers and meteorologists because of their agreement on inconvenient data, the fact that this guy predicted something as counter intuitive as the ducks traveling through a North-west passage in pack ice should give pause for thought.

    When even people like Dyson try and rubbish climatologists (presumably because he wants unrestricted space travel and they are warning that this is impossible without doing severe damage to the Earth) this sort of thing reminds us of just (1) how much these people know and (2) what a lot they still want to learn, while their opponents seem to rely on soundbites and dodgy statistics rather than science.

    • Re:This is actually interesting... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Don_dumb (927108) on Monday July 02 2007, @06:10AM (#19715169)
      Thanks for the post, I saw "the daily mail is reporting" and didn't even think of reading the article. It turned out to be quite interesting despite me spending the whole time reading it thinking - how are they going to make this a "Thousands of Chinese immigrants ready wash onto UK shores - Labour to blame" story

    • Re:This is actually interesting... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by WIAKywbfatw (307557) on Monday July 02 2007, @06:20AM (#19715223) Journal
      The most frightening thing about the Daily Mail (well, frightening to anybody with a social conscience) is that over half their online readership is from outside the UK. Talk about giving everybody the worst possible guide of everyday British life...

      • The global warming scare suffers from the fact that the world has been cooling ever since 1998.

        Take a look at this graph. [nasa.gov]. It is true that 1998 was exceptionally hot, but the trend looks increasing to me. It even looks as if 1998 wasn't a record year, with some year 200Ox being a bit hotter, though the text of the article [nasa.gov] says it is a draw within the error bars. Also, according to the article 1998 was a El Nino year, while 2005 wasn't... had it been, it would have been even warmer.

        Do you have other facts to share? ;p

  • Welcome (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02 2007, @05:28AM (#19715001)
    As a native of the South-West of England I for one welcome our new faded yellow Chinese rubber duck overlords.

    • As an inhabitant of South West England (Score:5, Funny)

      by Flying pig (925874) on Monday July 02 2007, @06:48AM (#19715359)
      I can't help thinking that they can't be any worse than our local District Council. The ducks are mostly going in the same direction, and not spending all their time in in-fighting. What's more, they've spent the last 15 years doing useful scientific research instead of allowing unrestricted development in towns and blocking anything that might cause a rich NIMBY from London to have to look at a house belonging to someone else.

      Yes, replacing the Council with faded yellow Chinese rubber ducks might actually be an improvement.

  • Harper's article on the floatees (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tim (686) <timr.u@washington@edu> on Monday July 02 2007, @05:34AM (#19715019) Homepage
    Harper's did a long article on these in the January 2007 issue. If you're a subscriber, you can go to http://harpers.org/archive/2007/01/0081345 [harpers.org] to read it.

    Also, if you're interested in this stuff, you might want to check out Ebbesmeyer's website and newsletter about beachcombing: http://beachcombersalert.org/ [beachcombersalert.org]

  • Wanna bet? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Opportunist (166417) on Monday July 02 2007, @05:39AM (#19715033)
    Wanna bet there's some collector paying more than those 50 pounds on EBay? If I found one, that's where it would end up.
  • (From Sesame Street) Rubber Ducky, you're the one, You make bathtime lots of fun, Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you; Woo woo be doo Rubber Ducky, joy of joys, When I squeeze you, you make noise! Rubber Ducky, you're my very best friend, it's true! Doo doo doo doo, doo doo Every day when I Make my way to the tubby I find a little fella who's Cute and yellow and chubby Rub-a-dub-a-dubby! Rubber Ducky, you're so fine And I'm lucky that you're mine Rubber ducky, I'm awfully fond of you. Every day wh

  • Ebb (Score:3, Interesting)

    by caluml (551744) <slashdot.spamgoeshere@calum@org> on Monday July 02 2007, @06:18AM (#19715217) Homepage
    Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer - that's quite a good name for someone who works with the sea.
    • Pfff. He's barely trying. In the early nineties, the Detroit Lions had a quarterback called Chuck Long. Now that's doing it right. Oh, and Richard Payne from my school, who had a Saturday job on the pharmacy counter at the local branch of Boots. Every time he was about to finish his break, some wag or another would tannoy "would Dick Payne please come to the pharmacy counter"...
  • I have a Chinese mfg make a couple thou of them. pre-bleached. Stamped "Teh First Years"

    You be seeing them on eBay soon, though, since they were also washed overboard it's not entirely clear where I be pickin them up yet.
    • Looking forward to the iDuck combined mobile phone and ducky on eBay - no-doubt someone would buy it.

  • Old News (Score:4, Informative)

    by Suit (106935) on Monday July 02 2007, @06:45AM (#19715341)
    Nike got there first with shoes that had serial numbers to allow tracking across the globe.

    In late May of 1990, the container vessel Hansa Carrier encountered a severe storm in the north Pacific Ocean (~48N, 161W) on its passage from Korea to the United States. During the storm, a large wave washed twenty-one shipping containers overboard. Five of these 20-metre containers held a shipment of approximately 80,000 Nike shoes ranging from children's shoes to large hiking boots. It has been estimated that four of the five containers opened into the stormy waters, releasing over 60,000 shoes into the north Pacific Ocean.

  • Convoy (Score:5, Funny)

    by asifyoucare (302582) on Monday July 02 2007, @07:10AM (#19715449)
    Rubber Duck says "looks like we got ourselves a convoy".

    Scary thing was "Convoy" had a B-side. Imagine how bad that must've been.

  • So this is how it ends *sniff* (Score:5, Funny)

    by Agilus (471376) on Monday July 02 2007, @09:19AM (#19716267) Homepage
    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?!?

  • Next up: Lava Ducks (Score:4, Interesting)

    by chiph (523845) on Monday July 02 2007, @09:26AM (#19716339)
    Imagine if you could create Asbestos Ducks that you'd drop into a subduction zone to trace the earth's magma currents.

    Of course, you'd have to wait a bit longer than 4 years for them to pop up at their destination...

    Chip H.

  • Google Earth/Maps (Score:3, Funny)

    by ehicks727 (781110) on Monday July 02 2007, @09:59AM (#19716697)
    You'd think you could spot tens of thousands of brightly colored rubber ducks on Google Earth/Maps, ya think? Anyone have links?

  • BBC Radio Documentary From 2006 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Larry Lightbulb (781175) on Monday July 02 2007, @11:10AM (#19717663) Homepage
    There was a radio documentary about them in 2006 - my page about the programme, http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/invasion _of_the_yellow_ducks.html/ [radiolistings.co.uk], has a link to the "Listen Again" where you may be able to hear it (the BBC sometimes keeps the old factual programmes available).

    • I am somewhat uncomfortable remaking world economic order on the basis of forecasts made on that data.

      Or, let's put the question in another perspective : Given the fact that we aren't perfectly sure how to predict climate and that rubber duckies still have something to teach us, will you take the risk to continue dumping into the atmosphere massive amount of CO2 - that wasn't there before in a recent time-scale ?
      Are you ready to gamble that we won't encounter any problem ?
      Isn't it best to decide that, becau

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Retric (704075)
      When a big pile of rubber ducks floating around on the ocean can give oceanographers compelling new insights into how the earth works, and add a lot on top of modern instruments as quoted here, I am somewhat uncomfortable remaking world economic order on the basis of forecasts made on that data.

      Thank you AC for pointing out that people who don't know what they are talking about should be ignored. Just because there are not a lot of blinking lights does not mean that you're collecting bad data. I think / f

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