Unhappy Feet: Penguin Goes Poof

[Author's note:  Those that know me will immediately know and understand how difficult it was for me to write this blog.  For those that don't yet know me, I have had an affinity for penguins since before I could walk.  My first penguin was probably a floaty soap dish named "Perry the Penguin", I think it was also a squeak toy, (kitsch from the late 1960s) and they have populated my life ever since; from plush toys to key chains to shower curtains to swizzle sticks and all points between.  I guess the technical term is having a penguin fetish.]

Happy Feet, the wayward emperor penguin, has disappeared from satellite tracking.

Happy Feet was discovered June 21st on Peka Peka Beach in New Zealand.  It was only the second sighting of an emperor penguin in New Zealand, the last sighting having been in 1967, but not nearly as far north.  I've been monitoring his progress ever since.  It has been easy as the authorities in the area have kept the Internet informed.

At first he didn't seem to be in distress, but neither did he return to the sea to go home to Antarctica.  He began eating sand, which seems to have been displaced behaviour -- penguins eat snow in order to cool off.  Four days after he beached, this errant behaviour resulted in New Zealand zoo authorities taking the penguin into custody/care and ultimately to performing 3 surgeries to remove the glut of sand and stones from his digestive tract.  He pulled through this difficult time and began to thrive in captivity.

But captivity was never in the cards for Happy Feet.  The plan all along was to release him back into the wild so he could return to his natural habitat, Antarctica and the Southern Sea.  To that end, Happy Feet was fitted with a very small satellite transmitter.  It represented less than 1% of his body mass.  It was affixed with glue on feathers that would be shed in moulting in the summer (Northern Hemisphere's winter).  Further, it was attached in a fashion so as to minimize the impact on his swimming.

On September 4th, after 72 days in Kiwi care, Happy Feet was released into the sea about 80km north of Campbell Island, which is the southernmost New Zealand territory.  To get home in an ideal fashion, he would have to get around Campbell Island, preferably going around the western coast, and travel roughly SSW to Antarctica.

Things went wrong almost from the get go.  (You could say that things went wrong before the get go -- Happy Feet's launch was delayed two days due to inclement weather.)  Happy Feet seemed to be on a fairly consistent SE track.  If you factor in the effort fighting strong eastbound ocean currents, Happy Feet was trying to swim SSE.  So his sense of direction didn't seem to be as bad as it had been when he found himself at Peka Peka in the first place.  While he would still reach Antarctica this way -- you cannot have a southerly component to your travel and not eventually reach Antarctica -- but it would be on a coastline possibly as far as 180° removed from where he originated.  This isn't tragic.  As long as there are emperor penguin rookeries where he alights he'll be fine and while the trajectory was not the most direct, Happy Feet had plenty of time to get where he was going.

Four days after his return journey started Happy Feet disappeared from satellite imagery.  All this technically means is that the transmitter hasn't stayed above the ocean surface for at least 3 consecutive minutes during the 7-hour window that it is powered daily.  (Another very unlikely possibility is that the battery or transmitter itself was damaged and has ceased functioning.)  Emperor penguins are thought to dive for no more than 20 minutes before surfacing to breathe, so that can't explain the 7-hour absence.  It takes at least 4 'pings' to the satellite for the tracking software to acknowledge a location.  Is it possible that between hyperactive solar flares and equipment on the fritz that a 3-ping (or less) presence has been registered, but been discarded as unreliable noise?  Could the super-glue and cabling used to affix the transmitter to Happy Feet's back have failed and he is presently continuing his journey home free of prying eyes?  Does it have to be the most tragic of circumstances, namely that Happy Feet has been eaten or drowned due to injury?

We may never know.

If this is a worst case scenario, it is one of those ironic, cartoon moments that flash through our heads from time to time.  Scenario 1:  A boy catches a fish and is lectured by his father about nature conservancy in sport fishing and is encouraged to unhook the fish and return it to the water.  He does so, feeling proud for having learned to respect God's creatures.  The 'camera' follows the arc of the fish as it returns to the water, and captures the image of a predator leaping from the water to gobble up the fish before it even hits the drink.  Scenario 2:  A fawn is collected after its mother was killed by a hunter.  It is sent to an animal rescue centre to be raised and prepared for a return to the wild.  Fast forward to 'graduation' day when the fawn, now a buck, is released into the wild...and, courtesy of a head-bobbing driver of an 18-wheeler, dies less than an hour later crossing a highway, possibly trying to make his way back to the animal rescue centre.  We can also try to help settle our nerves by cracking wise that this is what happens to 'pets' when you name them "Happy"-anything.  In any case, back to the real world...

Critics can point to the fact that Happy Feet was given a very long journey to complete on his own when he could have been given a shorter, more direct route home, for example, in deeper waters SW of Campbell Island.  I was certainly one of those that was alarmed when I heard where he was being released.  I wish my alarm had been misguided.  Still, no matter where he was released, Happy Feet would have had to deal with predators, elusive food supplies, strong ocean currents and his own wonky sense of direction.  There are no guarantees in life, but it is also natural to question "what if?", especially when things go awry.

At this point what we have left is mystery and hope.

It is remotely possible that rapid, staccato diving kept Happy Feet's transmitter from sending 4 consecutive signals to the satellite, and he is totally fine.

It is also possible that we may encounter Happy Feet again, if and only if he arrives at a monitored emperor penguin rookery.  You see, he had more than a transmitter on board.  He also had a sub-dermal microchip inserted in his thigh and will be recognized if encountered again.

Also, just because no one is there to tell of the happy ending doesn't mean there won't be one.  Happy Feet could return to the life he had before he washed up at Peka Peka, namely being just one of a quarter-million emperor penguins living in the wild.  He could end up at an unmonitored emperor penguin rookery and live a long life producing many offspring and we'll never know.

So, in the absence of further specific information, it comes down to a matter of choice.

You can despair and choose to believe that Happy Feet succumbed to Nature, and found his place in the Circle of Life (prey/food).  One might say it is the karmic end to a bird with such a poor sense of direction.

Or, you can hope and choose to have faith or believe that he is alive and well, living the life of an emperor penguin without the taint of human influence or observation, perhaps as God intended -- a true return to Nature.

What will your choice be?

I'm fairly certain that Happy Feet's story will be made into a children's book.  I hope I'm the one they tap on the shoulder for that task.

For additional information...

Colin Miskelly's blog

Satellite updates of Happy Feet (hopefully)

Wellington (NZ) Zoo (the people that took care of Happy Feet)