Retired bricklayer and part time fisherman Joao Pereira de Souza, 71, from an island village just outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, discovered the tiny penguin languishing on rocks in 2011. The helpless creature was starving and covered in oil but Mr de Souza took him in and nursed him back to health, naming the South American Magellanic penguin Dindim. It took him a week to clean the sticky black residue from the bird's feathers. When Dindim was well again Mr de Souza released him back into the sea, never expecting to see his new friend again. He was astonished when, just a few months later, the penguin returned to the island where he recognised Mr de Souza and returned home with him. Now, Dindim spends eight months of the year with Mr de Souza and spends the rest of his time breeding off the coast of Argentina and Chile. The flightless bird is believed to swim around 5,000 miles everytime he returns to Mr de Souza.
Daily Mail | 8 March 2016
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