World record rubber duck washes ashore 18 years later: ‘We got a bit excited’
They quacked the case of The Missing Toy Duck.
A rubber duck that escaped a failed world record attempt nearly 18 years ago in Ireland has been found by a Scottish teen more than 400 miles away, SWNS reports.
150,000 yellow rubber ducks were launched into the River Liffey in Dublin as part of the charity World Duck Race Ireland in June 2006. After being released from Millennium Bridge, the ducks were supposed to travel 1 kilometer down the river and pass under five bridges.
Despite organizer Children’s Lifeline Challenge’s attempts to collect them all, several broke free into the sea. Now, one has been found 423 miles away on the island of Stronsay in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland.
Filip Miller, 13, stumbled across the plastic duck while walking his dogs — and brought it back home to his mom, Marion, who noticed the telltale writing on the toy.
“The spring tides have been really high recently, and my son was walking the dogs along the shore,” Marion explained. “He was finding some bits and pieces and then he said, ‘There’s a rubber duck.'”
She said Filip put it in his pocket and placed it by the sink at home.
“I had a look at it and saw writing on it,” Marion continued. “That’s when I saw it said, ‘World Record Duck Race, Ireland 2006,’ and so we got a bit excited and started Googling it.”
Each duck in the race was sponsored, with the first duck to pass under five bridges being declared the winner — the winning sponsor was awarded a trip to the US.
Other ducks from the race have been found in Morecambe, England, and the Isle of Wight in the English Channel — with one even being spotted in Sweden.
Marion compared her son’s find to a message in a bottle.
“You always wonder what the story is and where it’s come from, so it’s really special to be able to learn about its journey,” Marion enthused. “It was so long ago as well — 18 years ago, and the writing is still intact on it, and it even has a number on it.”
As her discovery circulated on social media, users began wondering about the future of the duck.
Marion says there’s no chance that she’s tossing it.
“I was reading some of the comments on Instagram, and some people were concerned about the plastic on the sea,” she noted.
An estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, injuring and killing fish, birds, and other marine life that ingest it or get entangled in it.
“Somebody had said it was a shame that this little duck had bobbed all the way from Ireland just to go in the bin — but he’s definitely not going in the bin,” Marion added. “I don’t think we’ll keep him in the bath, but we’re definitely going to keep it on the shelf!”
