On January 10, 1992, a cargo vessel journeying from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington, encountered harsh storm conditions in the North Pacific Ocean. Consequently, twelve large containers fell into the sea near the International Date Line at coordinates 44.7°N, 178.1°E. Among these containers was one containing 28,800 plastic bath toys, referred to as Friendly Floatees, including yellow ducks, red beavers, blue turtles, and green frogs. Manufactured in China and marketed by The First Years, these toys featured sealed and buoyant designs, enabling them to float instead of sink.
This incident piqued the interest of oceanographers as the identifiable origin, release date, and locality of these toys provided a distinctive opportunity to examine ocean currents without the necessity of funding a formal experiment. Curtis C. Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer based in Seattle, collaborated with W. James Ingraham Jr. from NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. They recognized the scientific opportunity in tracking the toys and shared their preliminary findings in Eos in September 1994.
From the Date Line to Sitka
The plastic toys began appearing on Alaskan shores within the same year they were released. During the summer of 1992, numerous toys were discovered near Sitka, Alaska, approximately 2,200 miles from their release location. Dean Orbison and his son Tyler emerged as prominent collectors of these toys, documenting their finds from 1993 to 2004, ultimately gathering 124 toys from the shores, representing the four different molds nearly equally.
The information gathered by the Orbisons and others yielded valuable insights into ocean currents. The movement of the toys was simulated using OSCURS (Ocean Surface Current Simulator), which factors in geostrophic currents and atmospheric pressure data to model surface currents. The precision of the model was improved by calibrating it with the actual drift trajectories of the toys.
The Gyre Keeps the Toys and Returns Them
The Pacific Subarctic Gyre, an expansive counterclockwise ocean current, significantly influenced the journey of these toys. Contrary to typical one-way drift studies, the gyre circulates objects, allowing the toys to make several circuits around the North Pacific. Subsequent appearances of the toys on Alaskan shores, such as in 1994, 1998, and 2001, assisted researchers in estimating the gyre’s circulation time at just under three years.
The OSCURS model also suggested that some toys might escape the gyre through the Arctic Ocean, potentially arriving in the North Atlantic. While evidence of toys completing this trans-Arctic journey is limited, with sporadic sightings in Maine and Scotland in 2003, they correspond with the model’s forecasts but lack conclusive evidence.
The Broader Implications
The 1992 spill and the subsequent monitoring of Friendly Floatees generated extensive information about ocean currents, showcasing the ocean’s intricate and lethargic nature. By consistently logging recoveries and evaluating models, researchers have been able to gain a deeper understanding of oceanic circulation and the routes of floating debris. Although only a small percentage of the toys have been retrieved, the project highlighted the significance of systematic data collection and its capacity to enrich our comprehension of the world’s oceans.