Rubber duck found 18 years after it was lost at sea

Nearly two decades ago, 150,000 rubber ducks were set loose from Dublin in an attempt to break the record for the world’s largest plastic duck race. But plans – and ducks – went awry, and one of those floating toys has just been found hundreds of miles away.

Filip Miller, 13, found one of the ducks from the 2006 World Record Duck Race on the Scottish island of Stronsay – 423 miles away from where it was released at Dublin’s Millennium Bridge, CBS News partner BBC reported. Photos show that despite the years at sea, the duck was still in relatively good condition, still having a bright orange beak, dark eyes and the race’s information printed on its front.

According to Irish news service RTÉ News and Current Affairs, the 2006 Guinness World Record attempt failed, although it succeeded at raising money for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children Crumlin. The ducks were supposed to travel a mile from the Millennium Bridge, but RTÉ reported at the time that they ended up going in the wrong direction.

The latest world record for such a race was sealed in 2009 with 205,000 plastic ducks floating down the River Thames.

150,000 plastic ducks are launched at the Millennium Bridge in Dublin, to race towards the Sean O’Casey bridge – the first Irish attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s largest plastic duck race. / Credit: Julien Behal – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

Miller’s mother, Marion Miller, told BBC Radio Orkney that the teen was walking their dogs along the beach and talking to his mom on the phone when they came across the duck.

“Filip says, ‘Oh, you know, I’ve been walking quite far,’ and then, ‘ooh, here’s a rubber duck,'” Marion Miller told the station. “So I said, ‘oh you must pick it up.'”

Filip took the duck home and that’s when they realized the duck was from the race. Its relatively good condition was “really surprising,” Marion said. It was so good, in fact, that the duck’s individual number in the race is still on it as well – No. 59,933.

“It’s maybe not the quickest duck, but it must have been one of the farthest ducks,” Marion said.

BBC Radio Orkney reported that ducks from the 2006 race have been popping up all over the world for years. At one point, the station said, one of the ducks was found in Sweden.