"Whimsical curiosity begets a quixotic odyssey and troubling revelations about plastics polluting the seas in former high school teacher and journalist Hohn's charming account of what he learned searching for 28,800 rubber bath toys lost at sea in 1992...."

So begins the editorial review on Amazon of the book Moby Duck.

Mother Nature Network at:  http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-can-28000-rubber-duckies-lost-at-sea-teach-us-about-

tells the story...

"In 1992, a shipping crate containing 28,000 plastic bath toys was lost at sea when it fell overboard on its way from Hong Kong to the United States. 

Since that fabled day in 1992 when they were unceremoniously abandoned at sea, the yellow ducks have bobbed halfway around the world. Some have washed up on the shores of Hawaii, Alaska, South America, Australia and the Pacific Northwest; others have been found frozen in Arctic ice. Still others have somehow made their way as far as Scotland and Newfoundland, in the Atlantic."

Perhaps the most famous Floatees, are the 2,000 of them that still circulate in the currents of the North Pacific Gyre — a vortex of currents which stretches between Japan, southeast Alaska, Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands that the plight of the duckies helped to identify.

"I have a website that people use to send me pictures of the ducks they find on beaches all over the world," said Curtis Ebbesmeyer, a retired oceanographer and Floatee enthusiast. "I'm able to tell quickly if they are from this batch. I've had one from the UK which I believe is genuine. A photograph of it was sent to me by a woman judge in Scotland."

Collector Dean Orbison with turtles, ducks, beavers, and frogs.
After 12 years adrift, the frogs and turtles remained true-blue to
 their original colors (green and blue, respectively),
whereas the ducks and beavers faded from yellow and red to white,
respectively. Dorothy Orbison photo

"We always knew that this gyre existed. But until the ducks came along, we didn't know how long it took to complete a circuit," said Ebbesmeyer. "It was like knowing that a planet is in the solar system but not being able to say how long it takes to orbit. Well, now we know exactly how long it takes: about three years."

And I only bring you the story above because I just began reading this book.  Tells the story of the destruction of a whaling ship in 1820 by an angry Sperm Whale.  Whale of a tale, and fascinating history--and having learned that the story it tells was Herman Melville's primary inspiration for Moby Dick...I went digging for more and by typing a "u" instead of an "i" (which are next to each other on the qwerty keyboard), I ended up spending my lunch hour with Moby Duck.