Comments for The Mystery of the Pacific Ocean's Bath Ducks http://www.cool.com.au Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:30:10 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.cool.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=288&Itemid=74#pc_232 Do not be misled into thinking that Captain Cook was alone in using bathtub ducks as the world\'s most effective oceanographic survey tool. Dateline: 10th January 1992, twelve containers were washed overboard from a ship on its voyage from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washngton. Oceanographers around the world immediately sprang to attention as one container sprang open, releasing thousands of yellow plastic ducks, blue plastic turtles, red plastic beavers and green plastic frogs began to map the world\'s oceanic currents, on a scale not within most frugal scientific budgets. Months later, Alaskans began reporting the first arrivals on their coastline. Driven by currents and wind, most travelled north. Some drifted northeast and became frozen into the sea-ice of the Bering Sea. Today, oceanographers suspect some may even now be heading back into the North Pacific, or via the Arctic Ocean and Siberia, out into the North Atlantic. Is it just coincidence that the world\'s most famous duck, Donald, wears a sailor\'s outfit? Is it just a rumour that plans are underway at NASA to use the navigational prowess of plastic ducks to be part of the exploration of the outer reaches of the universe? Maybe the next time you are playing with your yellow duck in the bath ... you should be aware that you are sharing the water with one of the world\'s greatest ever explorers ... perhaps eventually destined to go where no man has gone before. Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:51:53 +0100