A perfect stealth invasion force.

July 2, 2007 6:24 AM

The duck diaspora: thousands of rubber ducks condemned never to know the quietude of a suburban bathtub, which have instead spent 15 years wandering the world's oceans like aquatic Cains. Previously
posted by nevercalm (25 comments total)

This amuses me no end.
posted by notsnot at 7:10 AM on July 2, 2007

Duckies!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:28 AM on July 2, 2007

Will I ever get to see an actual image of this floatilla?
posted by squidfartz at 7:34 AM on July 2, 2007

WELCOME TO THE BRITISH ISLES! LAST INVASION:
1066
2007
posted by Sangermaine at 7:58 AM on July 2, 2007

Yeah, I wanna see pictures too.

Also, I'd like to see what one of these guy looks like after traveling that far (I wonder if they're still recognizable as duckies?).
posted by Relay at 8:02 AM on July 2, 2007

Harper's had a terrific essay by about this in the January 2007 issue called "Moby-Duck or the Synthetic Wilderness of Childhood," by Donovan Hohn. The online version is only available to subscribers though.
posted by muckster at 8:06 AM on July 2, 2007 [2 favorites]

Also, I'd like to see what one of these guy looks like after traveling that far (I wonder if they're still recognizable as duckies?).

The second photo (scroll down) in the second link shows some survivors.
posted by anastasiav at 8:14 AM on July 2, 2007

I would love to see this. The only downside is, as one commenter mentioned, this will probably become the next Disney movie.
posted by misha at 8:16 AM on July 2, 2007

I don't remember where I read about the North Pacific Gyre before but it was about the Hansa Carrier losing a load of Nikes.
Both the shoes and the rubber duckies are mentioned here, along with a story about a message in a bottle.
posted by MtDewd at 8:18 AM on July 2, 2007

posted by nevercalm

Eponysterical?

The second photo (scroll down) in the second link shows some survivors.

I don't think so, at least not ones that made the trek through the Arctic or even to Alaska. Those look like ones that were picked up early after the shipwreck.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:23 AM on July 2, 2007

This line from the first linked article cracked me up:

They knew nothing and cared less, as they travelled the barren expanses of ocean, of the September 11 attacks or the disappointing sales of the third Spice Girls album. They did not follow the ins and outs of David Beckham's career or the cash-for-honours scandal.
posted by marxchivist at 8:27 AM on July 2, 2007

This is so cool. Here's Ebbesmeyer's Beachcomber's Alert! site, and more pictures of the recovered rubber duckies, froggies, beavies, and toitles.
posted by steef at 8:30 AM on July 2, 2007

Here's Ebbesmeyer's Beachcomber's Alert! site, and more pictures of the recovered rubber duckies...

Well, I guess I should take back what I said about the pictured animals not being the foundlings. Jeez, those things hold up well!
posted by Pollomacho at 8:36 AM on July 2, 2007

Many of the stories claim there is a $100 reward for finding one of these toys. I can't find anything on the Learning Curve Website, so your ability to claim this reward is questionable. What's more desirable $100 or a rubber ducky that has traveled the world's oceans?
posted by humanfont at 9:50 AM on July 2, 2007

Damn you for beating me to this post! Damn you to hell!

(And nicely done, though I kind of detest the Daily Mail.)
posted by Navelgazer at 9:51 AM on July 2, 2007

humanfront, I would email Dr. Curtis. He's quite passionate about the duckies and should know all the details.
posted by anarcation at 10:07 AM on July 2, 2007

The Pacific gyre, a huge circular current "is like a toilet that never flushes," says Moore, who has run a number of scientific expeditions to two particularly polluted giant eddies he calls the "garbage patches." In those areas, he astonished the scientific community by finding six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.

There are giant garbage patches in the ocean? How did I not know this?
posted by Tehanu at 10:25 AM on July 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ernie, put the quacker down!
posted by Sk4n at 10:54 AM on July 2, 2007

I would like to see a satellite image or aerial photo of a duck flotilla. Do any exist?
posted by mds35 at 11:12 AM on July 2, 2007

At least two books have been written about these ducks (by Eric Carle, Eve Bunting, and David Wisniewski).
posted by Songdog at 12:10 PM on July 2, 2007

Rubber Duckie, you're the one,
You make bathtime lots of fun,
Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you

Woo woo be doo

Rubber Duckie, joy of joys,
When I squeeze you, you make noise!
Rubber Duckie, 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 Duckie, you're so fine
And I'm lucky that you're mine
Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you.

Every day when I
Make my way to the tubby
I find a little fella who's
Cute and yellow and chubby

Rubber Duckie you're so fine
And I'm lucky that you're mine
Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of
Rubber Duckie, I'd like a whole pond of
Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of youuuuuuuu!

Doo doo be doo
posted by chuq at 12:48 PM on July 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you think about it, we're all like the errant duck-launching ship; what we launch into the world goes bobbling the oceans of mindspace forever ... or until the plastic biodegrades, whichever comes first.
posted by Twang at 1:31 PM on July 2, 2007

Wow, so when will someone start paying me $100 to show him what I said?
posted by nevercalm at 2:43 PM on July 2, 2007

TRAPPED IN A WORLD THEY NEVER MADE!
posted by davros42 at 4:05 PM on July 2, 2007

"Ebbesmeyer said a boy showed him a sun-bleached beaver"

Wrong. Just plain wrong.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian at 7:51 AM on July 3, 2007