The Good Ducktor

This is Ducktor Who. Although he sports a similar scarf, Ducktor is not to be confused with a certain timelord who despite having access to every possible place in the space time continuum, still chooses to get his all of his clothes from charity shops and thrift stores. I have been the Ducktor’s bathtime companion for a good while now - he used to rave for me while he floated, but my carelessness in leaving him in a damp spot put an end to those happy times. Today is a day for celebrating Ducktor and his ancestors. Today is Rubber Ducky Day.

The origins of the rubber ducky are shrouded in mystery, and no-one seems to know where they came from exactly (my guess is aliens). So, why today? Well, as far as I can tell, this holiday is related to an accident of fortune that happened more than 15 years ago. Get ready for this, because it is GREAT :) In January 1992, a container carrying 28,000 rubber duckies fell off a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The container exploded open in the water, and all the rubber duckies escaped. These were special rubber ducks known as Friendly Floatees that had no holes in them, so they didn't let in any water.

Cute little guys, eh? A few months after the accident, which was complete not-news at the time, rubber duckies started showing up on beaches in Canada and Alaska. As time continued to pass, the duckies continued to make their way slowly around the world and wash up on beaches all over the place, showing up on UK shores as recently as 2007. That intrepid rubber duck had been at sea for over 15 years! What a guy. There are still some ducks presently unaccounted for, some of which must still be afloat on the high seas, yet to come into port.

This map shows the Friendly Floatees progress around the world since the incident, and washed up Friendly Floatees have been selling for more than £1000 on sites such as ebay. The information regarding the rates of the ducks travels and the places they have eventually turned up at has even been used to find out more about how ocean currents work. SCIENCE! If you would like to find out more about these ducks, there's a wealth of information around the internetz and books have been written on the subject. Otherwise, I would recommend nothing more than having a relaxing bubble bath with your own friendly floatee this evening to celebrate Rubber Ducky Day :)