Duck Story

Guy Adams, a British journalist at The Independent, has written a fascinating piece about the fate of a shipment of 29,000 packaged toy ducks which fell off the deck of a container ship in 1992. Apparently they have bobbed their way across tens of thousands of miles since then. "They are small, yellow and designed to endure nothing more stressful than a quick journey around a bathtub. But after almost 20 years lost at sea, a flotilla of plastic ducks has been hailed for revolutionising mankind's knowledge of ocean science," Adams writes. Scientists and a devoted group of enthusiasts continue to follow their sea journey. Even a book, "Moby Duck," has been written on the subject. Adams adds, "The fate of the ducks also tells us about the longevity of plastic. The ones washing up in Alaska after 19 years are still in pretty good shape." Whether that's good or bad is another question.