One day in 2011, Joao Pereira de Souza was fishing off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He found a penguin almost dead and covered in oil on the rocks near his boat.
Joao is a very kind person by nature, so he takes care of the penguin and gives him food. He also named him Dindim. When the little one was well enough, the fisherman tried to let him go back into the sea. It’s when something that made your heartbreak has happened. Dindim didn’t want to leave his hero. Even though he was saved, the penguin had to go back to the sea at some point. “He lived with me for 11 months, then he went away when he changed his coat with new feathers.”
On the other hand, the penguin hadn’t forgotten who helped him when he was in such a bad way. After a few months, the bird returned to the same beach where Joao found him. There was a fisherman on the beach. The little one saw him and ran after him. Since that day, this is how it has been: The South American Magellanic penguin swims 5,000 miles every year from the coast of Argentina and Chile to be with the man who saved his life.
A penguin is like a child to me. I think the penguin loves me. He can’t be touched by anyone else. Then he pecks them. He lets me give him a shower, feed him sardines, pick him up, and lay on my lap. This is how it works: Everyone said he wouldn’t come back, but he has been coming back to see me for the last four years. This is what people said. “He comes in June and goes home in February, and every year, he gets more affectionate because he seems even happier to see me,” the fisherman said. “It’s like a real friendship.” A truly sweet story!
Krajewski, a biologist, said that he had never seen anything like this before in an interview. “I think the penguin thinks that Joao is part of his family and that he is also a penguin.” It makes him happy when he sees him. He shakes his tail like a dog and honks with joy. This makes the world seem like a better place again.
