勇敢的小企鹅：觅食迷路 北漂千里至新西兰

Somewhere along the way, as it swam through the icy waters of Antarctica, a young emperor penguin took a wrong turn - and ended up in New Zealand.

The black and white bird came ashore on a beach in the south of the North Island nearly 4,000 miles away from its usual habitat.

There are two dozens colonies of the penguins in Antarctica, but this is the first time for 44 years a 'vagrant' bird has turned up in New Zealand.

The creature's astonishing journey was witnessed by a woman walking her dog as the 2ft bird waddled out of the water in front of her.

Christine Wilton stumbled across the nautical wanderer on Peka Peka beach. She said: 'It was out of this world to see it. 'It was this glistening white thing standing up on the sand and I thought I was seeing things.'

The tale of the lost penguin is similar to the 2006 children's film Happy Feet, in which a young penguin finds himself far from home during a voyage of discovery.

Conservationists believe it has completed an incredible journey for such a young bird - it is estimated to be around 10 months old. The most likely explanation for for its appearance in New Zealand is the hunt for food.

The emperor penguin - a species discovered during Captain James Cook's 19th century voyage - may have been searching for squid and krill and got lost among the ice floes of Antarctica.

Voyage of discovery: The penguin's journey is similar to the story of the children's film Happy Feet, where the main character finds himself far from home.They almost never make landfall near humans so it is likely that this one decided it had had enough of swimming through the Southern Ocean and had come ashore.

Experts said it may also have rested on an ice floe during its travels and was carried north for a great distance before it made a swim for dry land.

Emperor penguins can swim at up to 15mph. But because it would have had to rest at time and would not have been able to swim at that speed for long, its wayward journey would have taken more than a month. The tallest and largest species of penguins - emperors can grow up to 4ft tall.

Colin Miskelly, a curator of New Zealand Museum, said: 'They can spend months at a time in the ocean and come ashore only to moult or rest.' Some two dozens colonies of the birds are throught to exist in Antarctica, ranging from less than 200 pairs to more than 50,000.

They are the toughest of all the species, the only ones able to reproduce during the Antarctic winter, when temperatures can drop to minus 50c.

Mr Miskelly said the plucky bird would have to find its way back south soon if it was going to survive. He said: 'It is probably hot and thirsty and has been eating wet sand.

'It doesn't realise that the sand isn't going to melt inside it because they typically eat snow - their only liquid.'

New Zealand residents have been warned to give the bird a wide berth - it can inflict painful bites if threatened.

Vagrant emperor penguins have been reported as far apart as the South Shetland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, the Falklands, South Sandwich Islands, Kerguelen Island, Heard Island and New Zealand.

相关中文报道:

近日，新西兰一名妇女在海滩遛狗时，发现了一只不该出现在那里的“天外来客”——一只来自南极的企鹅，正在海滩边“晃荡”。据估计，这只才10个月大的年轻企鹅可能是在南极迷路后，一路北上历经数千英里的漫长路途，迷迷糊糊来到新西兰的。

据报道，克里斯廷•威尔顿(Christine Wilton)在新西兰北岛首都惠灵顿南边一处海滩遛狗时，发现一只约2英尺(约合0.7米)高、正在沙子上“晃荡”的企鹅，大感惊讶。她觉得生活在南极企鹅出现在新西兰的沙滩上，只能用“天外来客”来形容了。

这是新西兰野外环境中44年来第一次出现企鹅。这只10个月大的帝企鹅可谓缔造了它们种族的“漂流历史”。

环境保护者认为，这只企鹅一定是完成了一段令人不可思议的漫长旅程，经历了不少艰险，才从南极跑到新西兰的。科学家们说，这只小企鹅应该是去年冬天出生的。企鹅最喜欢吃鱿鱼和磷虾，这个小家伙想必是在找食物的过程中走反了方向，结果一路向北，整整漂流了3200公里，来到新西兰。 报道说，这简直是现实版的电影《欢乐的大脚》中的主人公——“大脚”。

据推测，这位企鹅界的“鲁滨逊”旅途中并非一直在水中游，可能是长时间站在浮冰上，最后才进入水中游泳，并跑到岸上的。

帝企鹅每小时可游15英里左右，不过从南极到新西兰，企鹅可要游1个月时间左右。据观察，这只企鹅已经感到又热又饿，可能还吃了湿沙子。作为世界上生存能力最强(在南极生活)的一种动物，它得找到回家的路，马上南下，生存下去。

目前，科学家们正在密切关注这只小企鹅的一举一动。他们希望这只勇敢的小企鹅可以顺利地找到回家的路。