By Sustainability Editor Erica Elliott.
This anniversary tells you everything you need to know about the longevity of plastic.
What started as an attempt to win a Guinness World Record spiralled into a series of ducks bopping off-course, miles and miles from their point of origin.
The plastic duck race consisted of over 150,000 rubber ducks, which were set free down the River Liffey back in 2006. The race aimed to break the record of the largest amount of rubber ducks released at once in a race.
This event was a momentous one for Ireland, being broadcast by its renowned broadcaster, and raising more than €100,000 for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children Crumlin. While they failed at their mission of scoring the title of ‘World Record’ winner, this moment in time still lives on.
Only 2 years ago, RTE, as well as many other British and Irish publications, released an article reporting on a rubber duck which was found washed up in Orkney, North of Scotland.
It was found by a young boy who took the duck home to his mother. She discovered its significance after googling the race, which took place almost 700km away and 18 years before.
However, this isn’t the first time that an event like this has tested the durability of plastic, as rubber ducks have inadvertently paved the way for how we understand our ocean currents today.
During a storm which took place in January of 1992, thousands of these plastic ducks fell from a shipping container, and subsequently started drifting along the ocean currents.
In an article published by IFLSCIENCE 8 years ago, Dr Anthony Galea, a science lecturer and researcher at the University of Malta, spoke about how scientists have formerly forecast ocean and sea movement, specifically noting these plastic ducks.
The result of this accidental spill of plastic ducks had onset effects for science communication and enlightened the researchers of its time about how main ocean currents operate. 28,000 rubber ducks accidentally contributed to one of the world’s most unusual studies into global ocean currents.
These toys, which were “plastic-wrapped on mounted cardboard and each contained a yellow duck, a red beaver, a green frog, and a blue turtle”, were made by The First Years company.
The toys that were designed without any holes, remained buoyant, floating and bopping along the water, in what was known as, ‘The Friendly Floatees’. Their first toy began to wash up on the Alaskan coast towards the end of the same year, approximately 3,200km from their initial starting point.
A computer model was created by the oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who mapped the progress of the toys’ movements, and his colleague James Ingraham, who combined data on air pressure and the speed and directions of weather systems to map the exact points.
Credits : IFISCIENCE
You might have thought, ‘how often do we still find these rubber ducks from The World Record Duck Race of 2006’, and the answer is all the time.
In an article which was previously reported by The Bulletin about how ‘people are dismayed about the effects of plastic pollution’, an interesting fact emerged.
The secretary of The Bull Island Action Group, Donal McGuirk, who has been hosting beach clean ups, ridding plastic from the nature reserve’s biosphere, told me he continues to find these iconic rubber ducks often, pointing out their impressive collection.
These ducks have been washing up on the island’s shores for nearly 20 years and they’re still finding them to this day, with one volunteer, Steve, discovering one very recently with the number 49,425 on it, still legible.
It’s impressive to think that somewhere, stuck and wedged in between the nooks and crannies of those rocks, these plastic toys still show up.
Credits : Sourced by Erica Elliott
So the next time you’re wondering if plastic is as durable as they say it is, this just goes to show. And if you’re looking for a weird, wacky story to tell people, this is certainly one for the books.