29,000 Plastic Ducks Adrift in the Pacific
The armada of Floatee bath toys consists of yellow ducks, green frogs, blue turtles and red beavers, each marked with the logo 'The First Years'. They've been wandering the oceans since 1992, when the ship on which they were traveling from China to Tacoma, Washington, on the north-west coast of the U.S., was hit by a freak storm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Twelve cargo units were washed overboard, one containing the ducks. It split open when it hit the water and out popped the Floatees. Dr Ebbesmeyer is the world's leading authority on the Floatees. He first found out about the ducks when a few of the plastic raft made their first landfall, drifting onto the shores of Alaska in November 1992.
Distribution of Friendly Floatees Plasic Ducks
Map by NordNordWest Wikicommons
Dr Curtis Ebbesmeyer Oceanographer and Floating Ducks Expert
Dr Ebbesmeyer has studied the movement of flotsam. He came to public attention through his interest in The First Years' rubber ducks (actually Friendly Floatees) a consignment of bath toys washed into the Pacific Ocean in 1992.Dr Ebbesmeyer founded the nonprofit Beachcombers' and Oceanographers' International Association in 1996 for which he writes and publishes the magazine Beachcombers' Alert.
Photo Wikicommons
Plastic Ducks on CafePress
Flotsametrics and the Floating World
Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man's Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science
Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 12/08/2009) 
How to Identify a Friendly Floatee Rubber Duck
They must have the "The First Years'" logo.The toys are made from rigid not pliable plastic. Bleached by the sun, the ducks will be white or off-white, and the beavers will be off-white or beige. The turtles will still be blue, however, and the frogs still green. Only the ducks bear the First Years logo, which appears on its right flank, where the wing would be if it had one (Donovan Hohn, New York)
Any beachcomber who finds one of the ducks will be able to claim a $100 (£50) reward from the toys' American distributor, First Years Inc.
I don't know whether the logo looks like the adjacent
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Giant Dock in Amsterdam photo by Gastev
O2 Advert for the Lost Ducks
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List of Found Ducks
- Penny Harris, found the plastic yellow toy in 2007 The duck, found near Woolacombe , is probably the UK's first and Penny has sent it away to the manufacturer in a bid to claim a $100 finder's fee. The Duck is partly broken but is still yellow with brown stain spots. (Unfortunately this duck was subsequently found not to be from the armada, having apparently the wrong shape head)
Flotsam and Jetsam Feedback
What have you found in the Sea?
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Reply
- thesuccess thesuccess Jul 26, 2009 @ 8:34 am
- Rocky,
Thanks for floating in to my lens. I think they very well scattered now in 2007 - A beached duck was recovered in southern England. In 2003 a frog turned up in Scotland, and Sitka Alaska had a fifth floatee in 2004 the ducks and beavers were bleached to white but the frogs and turtles remained green and blue. So less and less news on the Floatees!
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Reply
- Rocky Rocky Jul 25, 2009 @ 11:10 pm
- What ever happened to the Duck Armada...Did they ever land anywhere....Rock
Flotsam and Jetsam News
Beachcomber News
- 1997 Hockey Gloves
34,000 hockey gloves along the Pacific coast - 1998 Lego
Over three million pieces of Lego afloat
by thesuccess
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