The Cockburn Masters Swimming Club had lost ‘Daphne’ as she’s known last week after she was blown into the Indian Ocean at their annual Coogee Jetty to Jetty Swim in Perth.
Club president Peter Marr tried to swim after the $900 caravan-sized mascot, but couldn’t keep up.
“I probably overestimated my ability and underestimated Daphne’s hunger for freedom and she just bolted,” he told ABC News.
Hard to believe, but even harder to believe was the international reaction, with news media in the US, UK, China and New Zealand all asking the question ‘Where is Daphne?’
The Club offered a reward on Facebook in its search but despite ‘sightings’ as far afield as Geraldton, 440km north of Perth, after nearly a week it seemed the giant rubber duckie was dead in the water.
Luckily there was a happy ending to the saga. ‘Daphne’ it turned out had been found near Rottnest Island soon after she went missing by a fisherman and has since been returned to the Club.
A quacker of a story?
