Lost Penguin Happy Feet Is Swimming Back Home

From People.com

It took an encouraging nudge, but Happy Feet is now swimming in the Southern Ocean again.

The young emperor penguin wandered 2,000 miles from Antarctica to New Zealand two months ago and was found disoriented on a beach with sand in his belly. After undergoing multiple procedures to remove the sand, Happy Feet recuperated enough for officials to decide to release him back into the wild.

He got a lift aboard the research ship Tangaroa last week, and on Sunday was launched into the Southern Ocean about 1,600 miles from the penguin colony at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.

Conditions were too rough for Happy Feet to get released by hand, so he went down a special tarp-covered slide instead. He apprehensively considered the descent with a pause, so veterinarian Lisa Argilla helped Happy Feet with a helpful push. Once he hit the water, the crew members cheered.

The bird has been equipped with a tracking device so that his progress can be monitored.

Happy Feet's progress

6 September 2011

Our bird has travelled 31 kms closer to his homeland over the last 24 hours, a big gain on the 8 kms he made over the day before. That's the good news. He's closer to Campbell Island though (just 69 kms away) so let's hope his fetish for sandy beaches doesn't surface as he continues to head southeast. Thankfully Campbell is southwest – upwind and upcurrent from where our bird is. He looks to be swimming at around 3-4 kph although of course not in a straight line. Makes for a long trip home.

5 September 2011

When he was dropped off at 10.28 am yesterday McMurdo Sound, the most probable location of his colony, was due south some 2619 kilometres. As of 8am this morning he was 2612 kms from home, so he's 7 kms closer. Looking at his track over the day he's swum at least double that distance. Clearly he's in no hurry.

4 September 2011

The bird has flown. He was released at 10:28am, a bit earlier than scheduled and just 49 miles north of Campbell Island at about 51.7 degrees south – some 2,625 kilometres though from McMurdo Sound where his colony is most likely to be. Some swim!! The wind has dropped to a gentle 19 knots from the crazy 50 knots of a day ago, the swell was down to just 2 metres, and the water temperature is a cool 7 degrees which he welcomed as he slid down the ramp at the back of the Tangaroa. We will bring updates of Happy Feet's daily progress to you each night on the TV3 News weather report. For a live feed on where he is and the conditions he's facing go to www.ourfarsouth.org. Congratulations to Dr Lisa Argilla of Wellington Zoo and the crew of NIWA's Tangaroa for delivering him safely.