
"Throw another bucket of krill on the barbie, mates!"
When you think of New Zealand, what do you think of? Sun, sand, surf, bikinis, and penguins? Well, probably not the last one, but New Zealand residents have been taken aback by the sight of a juvenile Emperor penguin that came ashore one day on Peka Peka Beach. Apparently, the bird has taken a wrong turn on his way to the Antarctic and came on shore for a rest. The last time an Emperor penguin came ashore in New Zealand was 1967; Emperor penguins are renowned for their long and difficult migrations.
“It was out-of-this-world to see it … like someone just dropped it from the sky,” said Christine Wilson, who spotted the bird while taking her dog for a walk. “It looked like Happy Feet — it was totally in the wrong place.”
The bird is believed to be 10 months old and about 80 centimeters tall; the typical adult Emperor penguin is about 122 centimeters tall (much smaller than their prehistoric cousins). The bird is thought to have been born in the last breeding cycle and is believed to have been out hunting for food when he got lost, made a wrong turn, and ended up a little farther north than he should be. Still, the bird is healthy weight-wise and Emperor penguins can drink salt water in the summer to slake their thirst, but if he doesn’t eventually turn around and correct his mistake, there might be problems ahead.
Tags: emperor penguin, New Zealand, penguin ends up in New Zealand, penguin goes the wrong way, confused penguin ends up in New Zealand, Christine Wilton, Peka Peka Beach, Antarctica, lost penguin ends up in New Zealand, New Zealand penguin