NASA Loses 90 Rubber Duckies in the Arctic, Offers Reward for Return
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 12.26.08
photo: (CC) Gaetan Lee
I admit that this one isn’t the deepest piece of news out there, but I find it too funny (and somehow interesting) to pass up repeating. The Guardian is reporting that NASA wants its rubber duckies back. And if you happen to be a sailor, fisherman or cruise passenger in the Arctic could you please send any you find bobbing out at see back to them. Oh, there’s a $100 reward for the first person to find one.
That’s the funny part; this is how the US space agency lost 90 bathtub toys:
Apparently, they were dropped into holes in Greenland’s ice three months ago to track how the icecap is melting. “Scientists threw the ducks into tubular holes known as "moulins" in the Jakobshavn glacier on Greenland's west coast, hoping they would find their way into channels beneath the hard-packed surface, to track the flow of melt water into the ocean.”
More on NASA’s use of rubber ducks: Discovery News
via: The Guardian
Climate Change
Record 10-19% Declines Seen in Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Last Winter, Satellite Data Reveals
First Arctic Ice-Free Summer Could be in 2015
Arctic Sea Ice Melt 20 Years Ahead of Schedule, Scientist Maintains Tipping Point Assertion
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stopped laughing long enough to type this.....
cheaper than a radio beacon, hard to confuse with algae or any other natural meal by animals, bright colors easy to pick up on sea and a nice toy that a sailor might be interested in taking home so it has better chance of getting picked up. Let's hope whoever picks it up speaks english, has access to internet or a reliable mailing system and can cash a check (you'd be surprised at how many poor people living of the sea do not have bank accounts nor have any idea what a check is and even what NASA is).
Are there any identification marks to indicate that they are NASA ducks?