Some of the toys would likely be transported into the Bering Sea and then northward through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. Others may turn south toward eastern Asia and be caught in the Kuroshio Current perhaps eventually heading to Hawaii. After five years or so in the Arctic Ocean and ice, the northern flotilla is predicted to emerge into the North Atlantic Ocean destined for the beaches of Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain. While Ebbesmeyer and colleagues look for other information to improve their ocean models, they eagerly await the reports in the year 2000, an invasion of yellow ducks and red beavers and green frogs and blue turtles hitting the beaches of Europe. Ebbesmeyer sees such accidents as fortunate events for the study and modelling of ocean currents and surface drifting.
More information is needed to study the flow of surface waters in the world's oceans.
By improving the mathematical models which predict the motion of objects in ocean currents and waves, the movement of oil spills and missing vessels or people can be better predicted. This would greatly facilitate clean-up or rescue by determining the path to be followed by a floating object. If you live on the coast of one of the oceans or other large water bodies, have a beachcomber's eye for any large deposits of commercial items. They may become part of the next great ocean experiment. Spectrum Educational Enterprises .