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Surfer Spots an Emperor Penguin on a Beach in Australia, Thousands of Miles From Its Antarctic HomeIts not clear how the juvenile male ended up so far north, but experts suggest he was motivated by his appetite The penguin was malnourished after swimming thousands of miles from Antarctica. Miles Brotherson / DBCAEmperor 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 homeand 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.There was this big bird in the water, and we thought it was another sea bird, but then it kept coming closer to the shoreand it was way too bigand it just stood up and waddled right over to us, he tells the Albany Advertisers Georgia Campion.The penguin did not seem to be afraid of the humans on the beach. Fowlers guess is that the bird might have thought we were penguins because of our wet suits. The penguin is a juvenile male who may have been following a current in search of food. DBCAAs he came out of the water he went to do a tummy slide, like I guess hes used to on the ice, and he just did a kind of faceplant in the sand and shook all the sand off and looked a bit shocked, Fowler adds to the Albany Advertiser. It wasnt until we got home and we googled it that we realized this never happens.To Fowler, the penguin looked absolutely flawless, as he tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Samantha Goerling, Jamie Thannoo and Peter Barr. But when wildlife biologists arrived at the beach, they found a juvenile male that was malnourished. A surfer spotted the emperor penguin emerging from the water. DBCAThe penguin is now recovering under the watchful eye of registered wildlife caretaker Carol Biddulph, after she inspected the bird on the beach.The bird sort of turned at an angle, and I could see its backbone protruding, and I thought, This bird is well undernourished, so that was a real consideration for bringing it in, Biddulph says in a video shared with media outlets by Australias Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).Between the condition of the bird and the activity that might have happened on the beach the following day, I thought it was best to bring the bird in.Biddulph helped get the penguin into a large canvas pet carrier that was nice and soft, she says in the video. Then, she loaded the carrier into her car and drove the bird to her home. Biddulph has a dedicated penguin enclosure, but shes never had to deal with a large penguin like this before, she adds. Usually, she cares for much smaller little penguins.The first thing she did was encourage the penguin to step onto a scale so she could record its weightabout 50 pounds. This allowed her to understand how much medication and fluids to give the bird.Never in my wildest thoughts would I thought Id ever have an emperor penguin to care for, she says in the video. Its just amazing. Its just such a privilege to be part of this birds journey.In a reference to the Roman emperor Augustus, the penguin has been named Gus.Emperor penguins that have been equipped with tracking devices have never been recorded this far north, Belinda Cannell, a biologist at the University of Western Australia who is supporting the birds rehabilitation, says to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Carol Biddulph, a registered wildlife carer, is nursing the penguin back to health. Miles Brotherson / DBCAWhy was Gus so far from home? And how did he end up in Australia? No one knows for sure, but Cannells best guess is that the animal was searching for his next meal.What they tend to do is follow certain currents where theyre going to find lots of different types of food, she tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. So maybe those currents have just tended to be a little bit [farther] north towards Australia than they normally would.Dee Boersma, a biologist at the University of Washington, agrees that the juvenile male was likely motivated by his appetite. You may be a young bird without much food, so youre going to look elsewhere, she tells the New York Times Victor Mather. Youve got to continue to swim until you find food.She adds: Young penguins have to explore their world.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. The juvenile male weighs about 50 pounds. DBCAEmperors are the worlds largest penguin species, standing nearly four feet tallroughly the same height as a 6-year-old humanand weighing around 88 pounds, according to the World Wildlife Fund.The species is particularly vulnerable to changes brought on by global warming, including rising ocean temperatures and declining sea ice.Other penguin species search for patches of bare ground in Antarctica on which to build their nests and raise their young every summer. But emperors lay their eggs and rear their chicks right on the ice during the winter. They rely on land-fast ice, a stable type of sea ice that is attached firmly to the shore. As the planet gets hotter, the amount of sea ice is shrinking; in some instances, its also breaking up and melting earlier in the spring than usual.In 2022, more than 9,000 emperor penguin chicks likely died because their icy platform in Antarcticas Bellingshausen Sea broke up early. Researchers described this as a catastrophic breeding failure.A 2021 study predicted that 98 percent of emperor colonies would be quasi-extinct by 2100, unless the world cuts greenhouse gas emissions quickly.Could the recent interlopers appearance in Australia have something to do with climate change? Probably not, according to Cannell, who tells the Times theres no kind of rhyme or reason as to why it ended up so far from home.Why it got this far, Id love to know, she adds.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Antarctica, Australia, Beaches, Birds, Mysteries, Penguins, Water, wildlife
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