Emperor penguin spotted on Australian beach thousands of kilometres from home

[Still Waters]

Emperor penguins are renowned cold-weather specialists that can survive blustery winds and temperatures of around minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the Antarctic winter.

So, what was one doing on a balmy beach in Australia last week?

Wildlife biologists are still scratching their heads after an emperor penguin showed up on Ocean Beach in Denmark, Western Australia, on November 1. The bird was about 2,100 miles from home—and much farther north than the species is typically found.

Aaron Fowler did a double take when he saw the out-of-place creature emerging from the waves on that Friday afternoon. He was out for a surf on Ocean Beach, which is located at the far southwestern tip of the continent.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/surfer-spots-an-emperor-penguin-on-a-beach-in-australia-thousands-of-miles-from-its-antarctic-home-180985421/

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Bloody tourists. 

[+susieice]

From Swiftwater's link-   This part kind of makes me wonder. If he got there because he couldn't find food where he was, will he be able to find it on his way back home? If he doesn't get lost again.

Once the penguin has been nursed back to health, he will likely have to find his own way home. Transporting the bird would be too stressful for him, Cannell tells the London Times’ Bernard Lagan.

[MysteryMike]

This has also been apparently the case for leopard seals.

In fact some theorizes back before settlers colonized Australia, leopard seals could've occassionally swam up rivers inspiring legends of the bunyip to Aboriginals.

Edited November 10 by MysteryMike

[Abramelin]

On 11/10/2024 at 3:55 AM, MysteryMike said:

This has also been apparently the case for leopard seals.

In fact some theorizes back before settlers colonized Australia, leopard seals could've occassionally swam up rivers inspiring legends of the bunyip to Aboriginals.

Leopard seals are solitary animals that inhabit pack-ice surrounding the Antarctic continent. They are perhaps the greatest wanderers of the Antarctic seals with sightings in Tasmania and a northern record at Heron Island. Heron Island is a subtropical island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef — quite some distance from the Antarctic!

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/seals/leopard-seal/

[Claira]

Gus, who was well taken care of during his stay in Australia, has been released and is now on his long way home.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/23/emperor-penguin-west-australia-antarctica-southern-ocean