A Frog's Plea: Bring me Home
Some of you may be familiar with the saga of the Floatees.
These bathtub toys (7200 each of yellow ducks, green frogs, blue turtles and red beavers) were lost overboard in a Pacific storm on January 29th, 1992. From then 'til now, they have been traveling the world's longest ocean currents, washing up on shores all over the Pacific and as far as Maine. Their true saga has inspired scientific research, two children's books and through wave of media coverage, touched millions of imaginations.
Unfortunately their story is not unique. Similar events have happened to a container of Nike shoes, and a load of Dell computer monitors. Between accidental spills, the illegal dumping of trash and derelict fishing gear, marine debris is a worldwide phenomenon that has particularly affected this island.
I was introduced to the story last month by a friend who handed me the story in the January '07 issue of Harper's magazine. A few pages into the story, lightning struck...I had once discovered one of the Floatees! I found a little green frog perched atop a kelp bed while paddling Afognak Island in May of 2005 and kept it, thinking it would bring me luck. And it has.
Before reading the Floatees story I had already begun planning coastline restoration projects around Kodiak, both through Orcas Unlimited's Beachcomber Project and through Island Trails Network, a non-profit I founded in Kodiak to, among other things, improve the quality of outdoor recreation here. As preparations for this summer's environmental projects shift into high gear, this little frog in my backpack gives new meaning to my work and gives me a way to relate my story to others.
There are undoubtedly more Floatees on Kodiak's shores. Scientists estimate that, like other plastics, they'll be around another 500 years or so. Join me in my quest to bring them back home!
-Andy
These bathtub toys (7200 each of yellow ducks, green frogs, blue turtles and red beavers) were lost overboard in a Pacific storm on January 29th, 1992. From then 'til now, they have been traveling the world's longest ocean currents, washing up on shores all over the Pacific and as far as Maine. Their true saga has inspired scientific research, two children's books and through wave of media coverage, touched millions of imaginations.
Unfortunately their story is not unique. Similar events have happened to a container of Nike shoes, and a load of Dell computer monitors. Between accidental spills, the illegal dumping of trash and derelict fishing gear, marine debris is a worldwide phenomenon that has particularly affected this island.
I was introduced to the story last month by a friend who handed me the story in the January '07 issue of Harper's magazine. A few pages into the story, lightning struck...I had once discovered one of the Floatees! I found a little green frog perched atop a kelp bed while paddling Afognak Island in May of 2005 and kept it, thinking it would bring me luck. And it has.Before reading the Floatees story I had already begun planning coastline restoration projects around Kodiak, both through Orcas Unlimited's Beachcomber Project and through Island Trails Network, a non-profit I founded in Kodiak to, among other things, improve the quality of outdoor recreation here. As preparations for this summer's environmental projects shift into high gear, this little frog in my backpack gives new meaning to my work and gives me a way to relate my story to others.
There are undoubtedly more Floatees on Kodiak's shores. Scientists estimate that, like other plastics, they'll be around another 500 years or so. Join me in my quest to bring them back home!
-Andy
