Giant Inflatable Duck Found After Being Reported Lost at Sea for Over a Week
Whether you're a naval commander or a giant, inflatable rubber ducky, the ocean is a force of nature that will appropriately wreck you.
This is especially true in the case of Daphne, an oversized rubber duck that drifted out to sea off the coast of Perth, Australia earlier this month. Daphne was supposed to work at an annual swimming competition hosted by the Cockburn Masters Swimming Club, where she'd be used as a buoy to mark the course's 22nd turn.
But the wind had other plans, and after a week of what seemed like wayward drifting into the oceanic void, Daphne has finally been reported found. Her keepers, like anyone who's ever searched in vain for a comically oversized shower toy, are ecstatic.
Although Daphne was reportedly sighted hundreds of miles away from where she was lost, local man Tony Gibbs found her just an hour after she initially went missing on March 11. He told the BBC that he tied Daphne to his boat and then paraded her around on a fishing trip before deflating her. He then kept Daphne at his place for a week. Gibbs is set to meet with Cockburn Masters Swimming Club chairman Peter Marr on Wednesday to discuss returning Daphne. For his part, Marr refers to Daphne as "a massive old girl," and is probably delighted to have her back.
Daphne had a big role to play at the 22nd Coogee Jetty to Jetty swimming event, where organizers had given out 1,100 rubber ducks to fans to honor and celebrate her mighty presence.
So naturally the duck's disappearance caused a stir. At the time of the incident, the Swimming Club promised a reward to whoever found the helpless mallard.
The fisherman Gibbs is poised to collect a reward of branded merchandise, a family pass to the competition for his entire family, and a "free bottle of vodka."
The latter gift might be a bargaining tactic.