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Two Giant Rubber Ducks Debut in Hong Kong in Bid to Drive Double Happiness’ 

A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
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Two Giant Rubber Ducks Debut in Hong Kong in Bid to Drive Double Happiness’ 

A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)

A pair of Rubber Ducks made a splash in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on Friday, part of an art installation dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who says he hopes the ducks will bring happiness to the city.

The inflatable yellow ducks, 18 meters (59 feet) high, will sail on the harbor for two weeks and come a decade after Hofman's "Rubber Duck" sculpture drew crowds in the Asian financial hub in 2013.

Hofman said his pair of ducks represent "twice the fun, double the happiness" and bring new excitement to Hong Kong.

"I hope it will bring as much pleasure as it did in the past and in a world where we suffered from a pandemic, wars and political situation, I think it's the right moment to bring back the double luck."

Curator AllRightsReserved (ARR) said the ducks were like the symmetrical Chinese characters "xi" for happiness and "peng" for friends.

Hofman, who was inspired by a world map and rubber duck to create his giant inflatable rubber duck installation, began a world tour starting from the Netherlands in 2007, making stops in harbors from France to Brazil.

Stationed near Hong Kong's central district and Tamar Park, the ducks swam across Victoria Harbor to the delight of dozens of bystanders.

Anna, a 40-year old woman, who was walking the promenade said she enjoyed seeing the ducks.

"We would like more installation art like the rubber ducks in Hong Kong. Right now there isn't much space for art in Hong Kong if we compare it to Macau or Shenzhen, they have more art installations."

A 40-year-old engineer named Kane said the ducks were positive for Hong Kong. "It's a silver lining when the society is in such low spirits. It's better for the government to spend public money on this than on other areas."

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Varieties

New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
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New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS

More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealand’s conservation agency said.
New Zealand is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders.
A team was monitoring Ruakākā Beach near the city of Whangārei in New Zealand’s north on Monday to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation told The Associated Press. The agency praised as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.
“It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement. “This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.”
A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealand’s Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure — of cultural significance.
New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.
It's often not clear why strandings happen but the island nation's geography is believed to be a factor. Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales — which rely on echolocation to navigate.