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Rubber Ducks at Sea

During a storm in 1992, a shipping container was washed overboard from a
cargo ship in the northern Paci c Ocean. Breaking open, the container dis-
gorged its load: 28,800 plastic duck, frog, and turtle bath toys. As the toys
oated away, the yellow ducks would become a symbol of the extent of plastic
pollution in the oceans.
After about ten months, the ducks (popularly referred to as rubber ducks de-
spite being plastic) began showing up on beaches around the world. Propelled by
the ocean currents that create the ocean gyres, which are the great ocean swirls
in various parts of the world, ducks arrived in Alaska, Australia, South America,
the eastern United States, and Europe. Some were even found trapped in Arc-
tic polar ice. In all, the celebrated ducks, which have garnered the nickname
Friendly Floatees, have traveled tens of thousands of miles around the world.
Several thousand rubber ducks stuck in the North Paci c Gyre have helped
researchers learn more about the Great Paci c Garbage Patch, a swirl of plas-
tic debris said to be larger than Texas. Oceanographers have gained valuable
information about worldwide ocean currents as the little yellow travelers wash
up on remote shores. And the fact that the ducks continue to appear years
after entering the ocean in 1992 attests to the long life span of plastic and its
continued presence in the ocean.

Plastics Discarded by Ocean Vessels
Seagoing vessels are another source of plastic ocean pollution. A
small, uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean has shown
evidence of plastic trash washed ashore after being discarded
from merchant ships. Named Inaccessible Island by early explor-
ers, the island, an extinct volcano, lies near shipping routes sailed
by freighters from Asia to South America. A 2018 study of trash
on Inaccessible’s coastline revealed crushed plastic bottles with
their caps still in place—a standard practice for saving space on
ships. In addition, date stamps on the bottles indicated they were
manufactured within the previous two years, meaning they came
from a source nearby, rather than being brought from a long dis-
tance by ocean currents. “It’s inescapable that it’s from ships, and
it’s not coming from land,” says Peter Ryan, lead author of the

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