Strange Beach Finds!

Billy · 26-07-2006, 13:41

Have you ever found a Rubber Ducky on the beach?

Let us know if you have ever found something weird or wonderful on the beach!

Read Below

Have You Seen My Rubber Ducky?

Quote:

Ebbesmeyer's next serendipitous study of the ocean currents in the North Pacific came in late 1992 when a large number of brightly coloured bathtub toys were reported on the beaches near Sitka, Alaska. These toys had been part of a shipment of containers headed from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington. In January, 1992, the container ship carrying the toys among its cargo encountered severe storm conditions near the International Date Line (44.7°N, 178.1°E). Twelve containers went overboard as the ship rolled about 40 degrees in the heavy seas. One of these 20-metre containers held a shipment of 29,000 bathtub toys.
"They're toys for two-year olds, and they're called Floatees, and they're meant to go into the bathtub with the kids," recounts Ebbesmeyer. "Each package has a green frog and a blue turtle and a yellow duck and a red beaver."
When the container emptied the toys into the ocean, they were packed in a plastic housing glued to a cardboard backing. After about a day in the water, the glue deteriorated releasing the four toys into the sea. And, being floating toys, they began to float pushed by wind, wave and currents across the Pacific.
The first landfall of these toys was reported on November 16, 1992. There on the beach of Baranof Island just south of Sitka, Alaska, six toys were found. A few days later, another 20 were found north of the initial site. A further 400 toys were discovered by beachcombers between November 1992 and August 1993 long an 850-kilometre stretch of shore between the city of Cordova, Alaska and Coronation Island in the southeastern Gulf of Alaska.
Ebbesmeyer expanded the search for the toys in newsletter articles and notices to lighthouse keepers and beachcombers on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver Island and in Washington State. No landfall of toys was reported south of Coronation Island, so Ebbesmeyer assumes most drifted north after reaching the Sitka region.
Ebbesmeyer and Ingraham again used the OSCURS model to simulate the drift of the toys. They pinpointed the release time and location with the help of the vessel's log book. The wind speed and direction were derived from information provided by the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center. They refined the model calculations by adjusting the Gulf of Alaska section of the model to agree with the movement of a satellite-tracked drifter released in 1978. They tuned the model to account for the effects of wind on the floating toys. This allowed the model to more accurately predict the toys' first reported landfall. In earlier simulations without this adjustment, the toys would not have reached the Alaska coast by mid-November 1992 but would have taken an extra six months to reach the North American shore, likely further south of the actual landfall.
Ebbesmeyer and Ingraham calculated a number of possible drift trajectories of the toys for the next two years. Some took the flotilla of toys southward to the vicinity of Hawaii. The most likely trajectories, however, took them into the Gulf of Alaska gyre moving westward along the Alaskan coast toward the Bering Sea.
And what of the future for this colourful plastic navy? Ebbesmeyer's calculations suggest that by January of 1994, they should have arrived in the southeastern Bering Sea. Some of the toys would likely be transported into the Bering Sea and then northward through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. Others may turn south toward eastern Asia and be caught in the Kuroshio Current perhaps eventually heading to Hawaii.
After five years or so in the Arctic Ocean and ice, the northern flotilla is predicted to emerge into the North Atlantic Ocean destined for the beaches of Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain. While Ebbesmeyer and colleagues look for other information to improve their ocean models, they eagerly await the reports in the year 2000, an invasion of yellow ducks and red beavers and green frogs and blue turtles hitting the beaches of Europe.
Ebbesmeyer sees such accidents as fortunate events for the study and modelling of ocean currents and surface drifting. More information is needed to study the flow of surface waters in the world's oceans. In addition, seasonal current variations or variations during El Niño episodes are poorly understood. By improving the mathematical models which predict the motion of objects in ocean currents and waves, the movement of oil spills and missing vessels or people can be better predicted. This would greatly facilitate clean-up or rescue by determining the path to be followed by a floating object.
Ebbesmeyer and other oceanographers eagerly await the next oceanic escape of rubber ducks or shoes or.... If you live on the coast of one of the oceans or other large water bodies, have a beachcomber's eye for any large deposits of commercial items. They may become part of the next great ocean experiment. http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weathe...ents/shoes.htm

BeautUtes

SMARTY · 26-07-2006, 13:45

I have just arrived home from 2 weeks holiday in sunny shark bay. That place is magic, but the restrictions on fishing in the Frescinet Esturary suck.

on trips down the beach to go sandboarding, i found a Huge loggerhead turtle shell, about 4 ft across. other things i have found on beaches include shoes, packets of condoms (treaded lightly around that area) and ciggarette packets (full).

but the best score of all was when i was walking down the beach i found a frisbee, a Bundy Rum one with a huge logo on it...

Billy · 26-07-2006, 13:50

I would rather the turtle shell! Thats nice! I have a sun bleached intact dolphin backbone which I found on Garden Island, thats nice!

fat rabbit · 26-07-2006, 19:28

Last christmas i went for a surf as i walked into the water i saw a shiny object reached down and picked up a ripcurl watch . what a score and found out later it was worth about $200

BeautUtes

SMARTY · 26-07-2006, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy
I would rather the turtle shell! Thats nice!

Yeah, thing is it was still half full of rotting turtle meat, looked like it had only been there for a couple of weeks. put off a nice smell too, a very enriching aroma!

miniT · 27-07-2006, 00:01

yeh im with smarty on this one... found the biggest turtle shell ever on the beach whilst up in shark bay ( Prolly the same one!!) that you could smell frum km's away! Underneath the jettys are the places 2 find crazy stuff! never know what ur guna pull out

Woohaha · 27-07-2006, 01:14

Gotta be careful these days tho unfortunately, gotta watch out for things like syringes and stuff on city beaches, especially under jettys and the like.

Bloody crying shame that if you ask me.

SMARTY · 27-07-2006, 18:48

Hey sharna where was that shell that u found. I found that one at Nanga bay, down the beach from the resort bout 2 ks south...

BeautUtes

Rousy · 27-07-2006, 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woohaha

Gotta be careful these days tho unfortunately, gotta watch out for things like syringes and stuff on city beaches, especially under jettys and the like.

Bloody crying shame that if you ask me.

I definently agree with u there josh its heart breaking sometimes

miniT · 27-07-2006, 22:45

hey smarty... nah mine was in town out along stella rolley drive, just one of the dirt tracks off to the left and not far north up the beach from there. Theres heapsa turtles up around that area, so its not suprising there was two!

26-07-2006, 13:45	#2 (permalink)
SMARTY Status: Beaut Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northam WA Posts: 575 Rep Power: 4	Re: Strange Beach Finds! I have just arrived home from 2 weeks holiday in sunny shark bay. That place is magic, but the restrictions on fishing in the Frescinet Esturary suck. on trips down the beach to go sandboarding, i found a Huge loggerhead turtle shell, about 4 ft across. other things i have found on beaches include shoes, packets of condoms (treaded lightly around that area) and ciggarette packets (full). but the best score of all was when i was walking down the beach i found a frisbee, a Bundy Rum one with a huge logo on it... __________________ *We Hold It Flat, And Then It Go "BOOM"* *Toodyay RUM RIGGERS*

26-07-2006, 13:50	#3 (permalink)
Billy Status: BeautUtes.com est. 2004 Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dumbleyung! Posts: 8,170 Rep Power: 10	Re: Strange Beach Finds! I would rather the turtle shell! Thats nice! I have a sun bleached intact dolphin backbone which I found on Garden Island, thats nice! __________________ Rural Classifieds \| AFL Gear \| Motocross \| V8s \| Bush Swags\| Western Australia\| Utes \| Depression Forum

26-07-2006, 19:28	#4 (permalink)
fat rabbit Status: Feral rum drinker Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dubbo Posts: 75 Rep Power: 3	Re: Strange Beach Finds! Last christmas i went for a surf as i walked into the water i saw a shiny object reached down and picked up a ripcurl watch . what a score and found out later it was worth about $200

27-07-2006, 00:01	#6 (permalink)
miniT Status: Feral Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: North West Posts: 126 Rep Power: 4	Re: Strange Beach Finds! yeh im with smarty on this one... found the biggest turtle shell ever on the beach whilst up in shark bay ( Prolly the same one!!) that you could smell frum km's away! Underneath the jettys are the places 2 find crazy stuff! never know what ur guna pull out __________________ You'd be un Australian not 2 luv ya utez!! There ain't nothin in this whole wide world That drives me wild, like a sexy cowboy

27-07-2006, 01:14	#7 (permalink)
Woohaha Status: Not God, just God-like... Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: West Coolup Posts: 1,577 Rep Power: 4	Re: Strange Beach Finds! *Gotta be careful these days tho unfortunately, gotta watch out for things like syringes and stuff on city beaches, especially under jettys and the like.* *Bloody crying shame that if you ask me.* __________________ *And I heard a voice in the midst of the four Beasts, and I looked and behold, a pale horse,* *and its name it said on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.* *www.Paull-Warner.com.au*

27-07-2006, 18:48	#8 (permalink)
SMARTY Status: Beaut Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northam WA Posts: 575 Rep Power: 4	Re: Strange Beach Finds! *Hey sharna where was that shell that u found. I found that one at Nanga bay, down the beach from the resort bout 2 ks south...* __________________ *We Hold It Flat, And Then It Go "BOOM"* *Toodyay RUM RIGGERS*

27-07-2006, 22:45	#10 (permalink)
miniT Status: Feral Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: North West Posts: 126 Rep Power: 4	Re: Strange Beach Finds! hey smarty... nah mine was in town out along stella rolley drive, just one of the dirt tracks off to the left and not far north up the beach from there. Theres heapsa turtles up around that area, so its not suprising there was two! __________________ You'd be un Australian not 2 luv ya utez!! There ain't nothin in this whole wide world That drives me wild, like a sexy cowboy