The Great Garbage Patch

I was looking up some information on childrens author Eric Carle today, and I discovered that a book he wrote called 10 Little Rubber Ducks was based on a real life adventure.

In the beginning of 1992, a container full of plastic bathtub toys fell off a ship somewhere near the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. 10 months later, yellow ducks, green frogs, blue turtles, and red beavers were being found on beaches in Alaska. They've also traveled to Japan, Hawaii, Maine and even Scotland and are still being found today, with an expected surge in 2007.
I also learned that as many as 10,000 containers fall off ships every year, and due to ocean currents in the north pacific, drifters get caught in something called the Subtropical Gyre. In the center of this Texas-sized orbit is a graveyard full of lost cargo called the Garbage Patch.

Now I want one of those toys. I also want to see this Big Lots of the sea with my own eyes.

Ok, I tried not to but I can't resist.... Red Beavers.