The Story of Boaty McBoatface – The British Research Vessel.

When it comes to people – generally speaking – we don’t tend to take our online presence all too seriously.

We flick through fail compilations and laugh at people faceplanting the pavement, the worst of us troll people with hurtful comments like it has no consequence, our aunts and uncles spam our feeds with copypasta cat memes, and then there are those of us who just love to wreck an honest poll…

And that last point right there is the genesis of our wonderful little trip down memory lane today.

Let’s start it off by winding the clock back all the way to 2014.

In 2014, the UK Government announced that funding for a new polar research vessel had been granted.

A noble, ambitious project, authorized to replace two older vessels within the British Antarctic Survey’s fleet.

So, with construction work on the £150 million, 15,000-ton surveying behemoth set to begin in July 2016, the UK Government decided to give the taxpayers – who, realistically, had paid for the vessel – a little slice of ownership.

In March 2016, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced that members of the public were being asked for suggested names for this new expensive nautical marvel.

Now, the NERC had a rough idea of what might happen, and did announce that they would have the final say over naming the boat, and the public’s choice might not make it.

ames Hand, a former BBC employee and a public relations professional, blew up on Twitter after (jokingly) suggesting the name “Boaty McBoatface” – a homage to an owl named through the 2012 “Adopt-a-Bird” program who became an internet sensation.