Mama Duck is temporarily a lame duck

People who flocked to the Camden waterfront on a warm Friday afternoon for the second day of the Tall Ships Festival were met by sad news.

Mama Duck, the world's largest known rubber ducky, was missing from the water.

"This is like National Lampoon's Vacation. You drive to Wally World and it's closed," said Debbie Bettinger, 53, who had driven two hours to see the giant duck bobbing on the water, but instead found it lifeless and deflated on a flatbed truck.

The rubber giant was injured Thursday as it was being towed to the Camden waterfront, said Ryan Whaley, spokesman for the event's organizer, Minnesota-based Draw Events.

Mama, 61 feet tall when inflated, is making her Philadelphia-area debut on the Delaware as part of the four-day festival, which includes events on both sides of the river.

But misfortune struck when the pontoon that was towing the duck tore into its 11-ton body, probably during Thursday afternoon's Parade of Sail, Whaley said. Organizers did not realize the extent of the duck's injuries until it was pulled to shore later in the day.

"She just needs stitches," Whaley said Friday afternoon.

Bettinger and two longtime friends - Sue Reier, 60, and Andrea Zalonka, 55 - had made the trek from Pottsville just for Mama.

"We came to see the big duck, which is deflated," Bettinger said, motioning to where Mama was wrapped up on a flatbed near the Battleship New Jersey.

"Duck soup," Reier said with a laugh as the truck drove the duck away for repairs at another location at the site.

Whaley said organizers had hoped Mama Duck would be back on the water by Friday evening, but later said it would not be ready until Saturday.

In the meantime, Rocky - a 10-foot baby rubber duck also in town for the festival - sat on the pier as a substitute.

Amanda Scott, 22, snapped a photo of her friend Joanna Caruso, 21, doing a handstand in front of the duckling on their way to a Dave Matthews Band concert at the Susquehanna Bank Center next door.

But not all were satisfied with pictures with Rocky.

Noah Richardson, 7, came with his parents, Michelle and Doug, and siblings, Rosie, 5, and Parker, 1.

Noah said he had visited the festival's website to look at pictures of the big duck before his visit, and had looked forward to seeing it.

By 4 p.m., Doug Richardson said, the children were exhausted, and walking around a long metal fence to take a picture with a 10-foot duck just did not seem worth it. Richardson said they might hit the Adventure Aquarium on the way out, or just go home.

Nancy Necker, 61, also was disappointed. She said Mama Duck was the main reason she and her husband, Jim, had come over to the Camden side of the festival from Glenside. "Nothing against the tall ships," she said.