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✉news EnvironmentOceans first seen 4 d ago, last 4 d ago, peak #17

28,000 rubber ducks spilled into the ocean in the 1990s, charting global currents

Original: In the '90s, 28,000 rubber ducks fell into the ocean. Scientists mapped their incredible global journey.

In the 1990s, a shipping container accident sent 28,000 rubber ducks into the Pacific Ocean. Oceanographers tracked the toys' drift for years as they washed ashore across Alaska, North America and beyond, using their paths to map ocean currents. The story is being shared again as a striking example of citizen-assisted science and of how plastic pollution travels the world's seas.

Why now: The curious story of the drifting ducks is being recirculated as a memorable illustration of ocean currents and plastic pollution.

rubber ducksPacific OceanoceanographersFriendly Floatees

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