Emperor penguin arrives on WA beach thousands of kilometers from home

The arrival of an emperor penguin in Denmark on the south coast of Western Australia has been described as the northernmost record of the Antarctic species.

Aaron Fowler spotted the animal when he went to Ocean Beach, 430 kilometers south of Perth, to surf on Friday afternoon.

“It was massive, it was much bigger than a seabird and we’re thinking, what’s that coming out of the water? And it had a tail sticking out like a duck,” Mr Fowler said.

“He just looked completely flawless.”

The Danish local was on the beach with a friend and their children.

“There’s always a bit of wildlife in the water, but never a penguin,” he said.

“They (the kids) were pretty excited, but I don’t think they understood the coolness of what was happening.

“He was trying to do like a slide on his stomach, thinking it was snow, and then just face planted in the sand and stood up and shook all the sand off.”

Adult male emperor penguins can grow up to 1.4 m tall and weigh 40 kg.

Emperor far from home

The animal was far from its icy home, with emperor penguins endemic to Antarctica.

They are not normally found in Australia.

The species is threatened by rising sea temperatures, and the World Wildlife Foundation estimates that three quarters of breeding colonies are vulnerable to changes in sea ice.

Research fellow at the University of Western Australia, Dr. Belinda Cannell, said the sighting this far north was a first.

“The tracked have never made it this far,” she said.

“The farthest north they go from Antarctica is about 50 degrees south (latitude) from my measurements, and Ocean Beach is 35 degrees south, so much further north than they’ve ever tracked emperor penguins from Antarctica before.”

Dr. Cannell said it was possible the animal was following a current.

“What they tend to do is follow certain currents where they’ll find lots of different types of food. So maybe those currents just tended to be a little bit further north towards Australia than they normally would.”

The animal is looked after by a registered gamekeeper.