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    • Emperor penguin found 3,500 km from Antarctica on an Australian tourist
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    Emperor penguin found 3,500 km from Antarctica on an Australian tourist

    Vaseline Posted on

    An emperor penguin has been found far from its Antarctic home on Australia’s south coast, marking the first recorded sighting of the species in the country. The adult male penguin, now named Gus, was discovered on November 1 at a popular tourist beach in the city of Denmark, located in temperate southwestern Australia, about 430 kilometers south of Perth. The sighting is described as the northernmost record of the Antarctic species.

    Local surfer Aaron Fowler, a 37-year-old drywall repairman from Denmark, first saw the penguin when he returned to the parking lot after a day at the beach. Fowler described his surprise when he saw the large bird emerge from the water. “We saw something coming out of the water,” he said. At first he thought it was a seabird, but soon realized it was much larger. ‘Oh, that’s way too big,’ he thought, as he saw the big, long neck and the tail sticking out like a duck’s.

    The penguin, about one meter tall, was not shy at all. “He stood in the water, waddled right over to us and started cleaning himself,” Fowler added. The penguin’s behavior amused the onlookers as he tried to slide on his stomach, thinking it was snow, but he put his face in the sand, stood up and shook off all the sand. “He was sliding on his stomach on the sand; I think he thought it was snow,” Fowler noted, according to The Independent. The penguin seemed completely happy and not afraid of the people on the beach. “We were in shock,” Fowler said. “There is always some wildlife in the water, but never a penguin.”

    When Fowler noticed that the penguin appeared malnourished, he alerted authorities. The Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has made an announcement regarding the penguin’s condition and location. The department said its efforts were focused on the rehabilitation of the penguin, which is currently in the care of registered wildlife keeper and seabird rehabilitator Carol Biddulph in Western Australia. The rehabilitation is expected to take several weeks.

    Biddulph, who usually cares for smaller local penguins, sprays the emperor penguin with chilled water mist to help it cope with the warmer climate. “Never in my wildest thoughts did I think I would one day have an emperor penguin to care for. It’s just amazing. It’s just a privilege to be part of this bird’s journey,” she said. The penguin, which weighed 23 kilograms when found, is being closely monitored as healthy male emperor penguins can weigh more than 45 kilograms.

    Experts are baffled by the penguin’s unexpected arrival in Australia as the emperor penguin species has never been seen in the country before. Dr. Belinda Cannell, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia, advises Biddulph on the penguin’s care. “The largest penguin species has never been reported in Australia before,” she said, referring to the emperor penguin. Cannell noted that some emperor penguins had reached New Zealand, Australia’s neighbor, almost entirely south of Denmark, but they have never been tracked this far north. “The tracked ones have never gotten this far,” she stated.

    She suggested the penguin may have followed a current to Australia. “What they usually do is follow certain currents where they’ll find a lot of different types of food. So maybe those currents just went a little bit further north towards Australia than they normally would,” Cannell explained. The city of Denmark is located about 3,500 kilometers north of the icy waters off the Antarctic coast. This unprecedented journey for an emperor penguin raises questions about the impact of climate change on their habitat.

    Emperor penguins breed and raise their chicks on sea ice during the winter, but the situation for their species in Antarctica is becoming increasingly uncertain due to global warming and the effects of melting ice. The species is particularly vulnerable to changes caused by rising ocean temperatures and shrinking sea ice, which are affecting their habitat. Emperor penguins are among the species directly threatened by rising temperatures of the world’s oceans and seas, with three-quarters of their breeding colonies vulnerable to fluctuations in annual sea ice cover in Antarctica.

    Conservationists are considering options for the malnourished emperor penguin’s future, but return to Antarctica cannot be ruled out. However, transporting the penguin can be stressful, and it may have to find its own way home once it is healthy again. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions stated that “work continues” regarding the penguin’s future.

    As Gus continues his recovery, Biddulph remains committed to his care. “Never in my wildest thoughts did I think I would one day have an emperor penguin to care for,” she repeated. “It’s just amazing. It’s such a privilege to be part of this bird’s journey.”

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    Sources: AP, La Voz del Interior, The Hindu, CBS News, More Radio, LEX 18 News – Lexington, KY (WLEX), The Business Times, The Independent, Home, Clarín

    This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq



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