World War 3 is upon us! Head for the hills!
Well, it’s not upon *us* exactly. Rather the Brits. They are about to suffer a massive amphibious landing of thousands of plastic Chinese bathtoys that fell off a container ship in 1992 and have been floating around the world’s oceans since then. Like a massive biker gang of little plastic ducks, turtles, frogs, and beavers the horde has been roaming the world’s oceans providing lots of data on ocean currents and $100 savings bonds for anyone lucky enough to find them in Canada, Iceland, or New England.
That’s right, even though the amphibious assault force fell off the boat in the Pacific, it has sneaked up through the Bering Strait, survived being frozen in ice for 10 years or so, and finally spilled out into the North Atlantic, bringing their west-coast brand of bathtoy terror to the east. Apparently, the trip through the ice was pretty traumatic for the warm-blooded duck and beaver though, as both have turned white while the cold-blooded turtle and frogs still radiate their original blue and green colors*
Myself I find this whole thing fascinating. Sure, because the science is neat, but also because hey - the company made plastic bathtoys in the shape of beavers! I mean, sure, ducks and frogs and turtles, sure – but where does one come up with the idea of a beaver bathtoy? I mean, why not a hippo? Or for that matter, a muskrat?
Unless, of course, all the beavers were targeted at the Canadian market. Those Canadians sure do love their beavers! [insert joke here]
* No doubt due to their ability to hibernate.
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