Penguin out of order

[carly]

  They should have just put him in a zoo or something. I didn't like this from the start. First they let him sit on that beach and eat all that sand and crap. Then rehab him, as far as I'm concerned a waste of time because they just dropped him in the sea all alone to fend for himself against all odds! Sheesh, poor planning is putting it mildly!!!     

I agree, poor little guy.

[nwfloridafalconfan]

Good intentions, bad results.  I had an ominous feeling about this when they dumped him so far from from home.  Probably best not to know the final outcome.

[jeanne]

  They should have just put him in a zoo or something. I didn't like this from the start. First they let him sit on that beach and eat all that sand and crap. Then rehab him, as far as I'm concerned a waste of time because they just dropped him in the sea all alone to fend for himself against all odds! Sheesh, poor planning is putting it mildly!!!     

I agree, MAK.  They just did not handle this right from the beginning.  Poor little guy.

[valhalla]

I hate to point this out, but the one article about his release detailed that immature penquins spend most of their time "at sea" AND HF was released where he was to steralize him from all the stuff he picked up in NZ - salt water will do that.  Don't bother to blast me, please?

[Wing Goose]

Thanks for your comment Janet about Happy Feet.  We need to be
aware of both sides.
           
                Lola

[margaret]

  They should have just put him in a zoo or something. I didn't like this from the start. First they let him sit on that beach and eat all that sand and crap. Then rehab him, as far as I'm concerned a waste of time because they just dropped him in the sea all alone to fend for himself against all odds! Sheesh, poor planning is putting it mildly!!!     

I agree, MAK.  They just did not handle this right from the beginning.  Poor little guy.

I was hoping, but it was not to be.  Swim free, Happy Feet! Poor Penguin.

[Carol P.]

I choose to believe he is out there swimming towards his home, minus the transmitter he has slipped out of.  Be happy and free HP!  

[Donna]

Good news, penguin lovers: Happy Feet is, more than likely, alive.

The emperor penguin which washed up on Peka Peka Beach, north of Wellington, about two months ago was released into the Southern Ocean on September 2 with a transmitter glued to his back to track his movements.

Transmission stopped a week ago and it was feared he could have become part of the food chain.

However, a penguin expert from Massey University believes it is more likely the transmitter simply fell off.

"Of the natural predators, leopard seals would be far further south, around the Antarctic continent, at this time," said Associate Professor John Cockrem, from the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences.

"I also think the chances of meeting an orca are pretty small.

"It is most likely the transmitter has fallen off."

Happy Feet - named for the 2006 film - would slowly make his way back to Antarctica but no one could guess his course or when he would arrive, Prof Cockrem said.

"It is highly likely Happy Feet is still alive."

I'm happy with this  Guess we can wish him well again!!

NZHerald

[MAK]

                    
   I shall believe he is swimming free in the sea! 

[Bobbie Ireland]

Not about Happy Feet, but more about penguins.

http://10000birds.com/why-do-penguins-wear-a-tux.htm

[Donna]

Happy Feet’s fate still a mystery

October 6 2011 at 10:31pm

Wellington - The fate of Happy Feet, an emperor penguin who washed up in New Zealand, 3 000 kilometres from his Antarctic home, remained a mystery despite persistent questioning in parliament on Thursday.

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley could only tell the House of Representatives that it was “highly improbable� that he was caught in the nets of a trawler after being released into the Southern Ocean September 4.

The saga of Happy Feet has been followed by thousands around the world since he was nursed back to health after being found on a North Island beach eating sand under the impression it was snow.

Fans expressed alarm when the satellite transmitter glued to his feathers stopped sending signals eight days after he was freed from a boat into the near-freezing waters off New Zealand's Campbell Island.

There was immediate speculation that he had been eaten by a whale or some other monster of the deep, but Green member of parliament Gareth Hughes suspected he had been swept up in the nets of one of nine trawlers recorded around Happy Feet's last known location.

The boats, trawling for southern blue whiting, or blue cod, were 37 to 55 kilometres away from the penguin at the time of the last transmission.

“A southern blue whiting trawler can cover 50 nautical miles (893 kilometres) in a day, and we are talking about an incredibly long net that is almost half a kilometre wide and 75 metres high,� Hughes said.

“How can the minister claim that it is very unlikely that Happy Feet was possibly trawled?� he asked.

As the speaker tried to keep order amid the festive noise of the last day of parliament before next month's general election, Heatley reminded parliament that the closest vessel was 32 kilometres away when the transmissions fell silent.

“Its fishing lines are not 32 kilometres long,� he said. “That would have meant that the vessel raced the transponder's emission, which went probably faster than - or close to - the speed of light. That would have been a very fast fishing vessel, indeed.�

Heatley said ministry officials had been monitoring the fishing boats and Happy Feet's transponder on adjacent screens, and they never came near each other. - Sapa-dpa

[Bobbie Ireland]

Good piece, Donna - even tho we are none the wiser.

[MAK]

 

[Donna]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Fate-of-Happy-Feet-gets-final-word-in-Parliament/tabid/1216/articleID/228592/Default.aspx The Happy Feet debate in Parliament: Video

[MAK]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Fate-of-Happy-Feet-gets-final-word-in-Parliament/tabid/1216/articleID/228592/Default.aspx The Happy Feet debate in Parliament: Video

I understand why they made a joke out of this but I didn't really find any humor in it! Swim on Happy Feet!