In 1992, when a cargo ship hit a heavy storm near the International Date Line and a dozen containers plunged into the Pacific, it seemed unlikely that anyone but the maritime insurance adjusters would take note. After all, what did it really matter in the grand scheme of things if twenty-nine thousand plastic bathtub toys bound for the United States from a toy manufacturer in Hong Kong were adrift at sea?
Since then smiling yellow duckies hve been washing up on shores around the globe, pushe merrily along by wind, waves and currents. The plucky duckies are known to have ridden ice packs across the North Pole, and to have surfed the waters of Hawaii. They swam with wild salmon off Scotland, and with humpback whales off Maine. They bobbed up on the Alaskan shore by the hundreds and promptly found new homes in hot tubs across Sitka.
Most people walking along a beach would never give a second thought to a faded plastic bath toy sitting in the sand. But the little toys have a surprising story to tell from their adventures on the high seas.
When oceanographers heard about the cargo loss, they recognized a huge opportunity. Relying on a worldwide network---and hundred-dollar bounties---to retrieve the three-inch castaways, the researchers entered data into a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration computer model to track the toys.
By collecting data on where and when the toys beach, the scientists can better understand where the oceans' currents are flowing , how fast and ho and when they interconnect.
The power of the small.
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