Lost plastic duck washes up in Orkney after 18 years

Filip Miller found the duck during a dog walk

A plastic duck has washed ashore in Orkney after an 18-year journey across the sea.

It was one of 150,000 ducks released into the River Liffey in Dublin in 2006 as part of a world record attempt.

They were supposed to travel one mile down the river, but many went off course.

The duck was found on a beach in the island of Stronsay by 13-year-old Filip Miller.

The plastic duck has faded slightly but the writing has lasted

His mum Marion told BBC Radio Orkney they were "blown away" at the discovery.

Filip found the duck while walking his dogs on the beach.

He brought it home and they initially considered "chucking it away" before reading what it said.

"It said world record duck race, Ireland 2006," she said.

"We got quite excited then and we looked up online, and saw the information about this duck race."

The plastic duck is thought to have travelled all the way from Dublin to the Island of Stronsay

The ducks were released from the Millennium Bridge in Dublin to raise money for charity.

In 2022, one of the lost ducks washed up on the Isle of Man.

Marion said the duck was in good condition despite its 423 mile (681km) journey.

"It is a bit washed-out yellow but it has still got an orange beak and it has got black eyes," she said.

"The writing is amazingly still on it after 18 years in the sea and it has even got a number on the back as well."

The original winner of the duck race won a trip to America as a prize.

The current world record for the largest plastic duck race was set in 2009 and involved 205,000 ducks racing down the River Thames.

Last year, scientists estimated that more than 171 trillion pieces of plastic were floating in the world's oceans.

The material takes hundreds of years to break down and can kill sea life.