Floatees Forecast: How 28,800 Rubber Ducks Mapped the Ocean
In 1992, a container spill released 28,800 bath toys into the Pacific. Seattle oceanographers leveraged sightings from beachcombers to validate the OSCUR model, turning the toys into a two-decade natural experiment that traced currents, revealed gyre pathways, and helped establish flotsametrics as a key method in modern oceanography.