CLEARWATER, Fla. — After nearly three weeks, the World’s Largest Duck has left the city of Clearwater and is moving on to her next destination.
The city says Mama Duck’s stay brought in more than double the amount of people they usually see, with one of the biggest days being January 17 for the duck’s “birthday bash,” which brought in roughly 3,500 people.
“We’ve had more people come to this park than we have since we did our grand reopening in 2023,” said Leanne Bell with the city of Clearwater. “We’ve had people come as far as Denver from what we’ve heard. They’ve flown and made a vacation out of seeing this duck, which is exactly what we were aiming to do.”
An analysis of the city’s preliminary parking revenue data revealed more than twice as many people visited Clearwater this January as compared to January 2025. So far this year, the city has made $23,931 in parking revenue, compared to $10,894 for the entire month of January last year.
Bell said web traffic also saw a significant spike because the live stream of Mama Duck was available on the city’s website. He said they received clicks to their live stream from people in 46 countries on at least four continents.
“This shows international impact and awareness of Clearwater and the destination at large,” said Bell, who added that downtown businesses reported an increase in sales in January, including some spots selling out their duck-themed specials.
Craig Samborski, who started taking Mama Duck around the country in 2014, said this was the first time he’s had a 3-week stay in any one city. He says he was surprised by how many people would come by on the average weekday.
“I was thinking…oh, like we’ll do 50-60 people a day but, its been much more than that,” he said.
Mama Duck’s stay in Clearwater costs approximately $45,000.
There were no concerts or shows at the BayCare Sound during the nearly three-week event. Bell says that signals most people visiting the Coachman Park area were visiting Mama Duck.
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