Yellow alert!
This week, thousands of bleached and battered rubber duckies are expected to wash up on New England beaches. After a storm tossed them overboard in 1992, the duckies rode currents through the Arctic, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. To quote the BBC story of their odyssey:
After falling overboard near the 45th parallel 11 years ago, the ducks floated along the Alaskan coast, reaching the Bering Strait in 1995.
It is thought they were trapped by slow moving ice for several years – it took them until 2000 to reach Iceland. A year later, they were tracked in the area of the north Atlantic where the Titanic sank.
During their voyage, some of the ducks broke away – and headed for Europe – others have surfaced in Hawaii.
I’m glad Niek will also have the chance to find an adventurous yellow duckie–I sure will be looking out for one for myself! Meanwhile, up in heaven, Jim Henson is chuckling as he sings Ernie’s favorite song.
Thanks to Frank Paynter pointing out this duck tale!
4 responses so far ↓
1 jr // Jul 14, 2003 at 8:59 am
Which just goes to prove the theory that the Polynesians could have been the first settlers in the “New World”.
2 Betsy Devine // Jul 15, 2003 at 2:43 am
Or does it prove that rubber duckies were the first settlers here? And speaking of settlers, have you read Neal Gaiman’s _American Gods_? Awesomely good.
3 twism14@h... // Jul 28, 2003 at 6:11 pm
Where can I find one of these duckies to buy?
4 Betsy Devine // Jul 31, 2003 at 8:40 pm
Richard, if you find out, please let me know! I bet eBay will have some eventually. Last I heard, researchers were offering $100 for the first photo of a ducky that got to shore.