Penguin Covered with Oil Is Saved by Old Man, Now Swims 5,000 Miles Across Ocean to Repay Him

Joao Pereira de Souza is a 71-year-old retired bricklayer who lives on an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He’s also a part-time fisherman, which is how he ended up becoming friends with Dindim, a South American Magellanic penguin.

It seems like an odd friendship, but Dindim owes the fisherman his life.

Joao stumbled upon the little penguin on a beach. When he found him, the penguin was covered in oil, starving and close to death.

Since he is a kindhearted soul, Joao took the penguin under his wing and nursed him back to health. After almost a year, Joao released him back into the wild.

That was back in 2011. Today, the tiny bird shows his gratitude by swimming 5,000 miles across an ocean each year to live through the summer months with his rescuer -and now friend.

“No one else is allowed to touch Dindim. He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up,” said Mr Pereira to a local news agency. Penguins are known for their romanticism, mating with their partners for life. It seems this little guy has officially accepted Joao into his family. “Everyone said he wouldn’t return, but he has been coming back to visit me for the past four years,” he said.