Every Year, A Penguin Surprises The Man Who Saved Him
While Brazil’s beaches are more usually known for their picturesque surroundings, João Pereira de Souza once caught sight of something quite distressing on the nearby sands: a penguin in desperate need of help. Fortunately, his timely intervention prevented a tragedy, and he saved the animal’s life. But what happened next left Pereira de Souza stunned, and it captured the attention of the wider world as well.
House by the beach
A resident of Ilha Grande, Pereira de Souza was very much living a retiree’s dream back in 2011. His bricklaying work was a thing of the past, and he owned a property on the gorgeous Provetá Beach.
There, he could spend some quality time with his family. Who’d say no to that in their twilight years? Yet that spring peace and tranquility would make way for fear and urgency.
A desperate situation
After getting caught in a nearby oil spill, a poor Magellanic penguin became soaked in petroleum. Of course, countless unfortunate marine animals have found themselves in similar predicaments over the years.
But this particular piece of avian misfortune was thrown into sharp relief for Pereira de Souza. Why? Well, the bird had struggled its way to Provetá Beach, but once there, the penguin was completely incapacitated on the sands. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move any further. The animal was in a desperate situation.
A stroke of fortune
The penguin’s life was hanging in the balance, and it needed someone to step up. Would a local beachgoer notice his awful predicament? Well, in a weird way, luck was on the animal’s side.
He’d just so happened to wash up pretty close to Pereira de Souza’s property, and his plight caught the attention of the retiree. From there, the former bricklayer knew he had to act fast.
An awesome deed
Pereira de Souza carefully moved the penguin off the beach, taking him back to his house. At that point, the retiree gave his tiny guest a much-needed wash, wiping away the oil sticking to his feathers.
It was clearly a good deed for a feathered friend in need! But Pereira de Souza’s kind actions didn’t end there. With the cleaning done and dusted, food was the next item on the itinerary.
Keeping a watchful eye
Yes, Pereira de Souza supplied the penguin with a steady stream of sardines, keeping him well fed over the following days. The beach resident also made him comfortable in the yard while he continued to monitor his condition.
The little bird couldn’t have asked for more. On a broader note, though, perhaps you might be wondering about something. Just what had this animal been doing in Brazil to begin with?
Long way from home?
Well, Magellanic penguins are native to the South American region of Patagonia. The marine animals can spend close to half a year living in the sea, ahead of settling near coastal areas where they breed and nest.
Now in most cases, that process happens around Argentina. Yet some of the penguins do branch out a bit further north, which can take them up towards Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The next move was crucial
So it wasn’t that unusual to spy a Magellanic penguin so close to Ilha Grande, which forms part of the larger resort of Rio. But going back to Pereira de Souza, what was his next move?
With the penguin on the road to recovery, did he have a plan? You bet! When it looked like his feathered guest was well enough, Pereira de Souza intended to return him to the wild.
Saying goodbye
The fact that the penguin managed to get back on his feet at all was a minor miracle, considering the condition in which Pereira de Souza had found him. Still, when the time finally came, the Ilha Grande resident loaded the animal into a boat.
The Good Samaritan sailed over to a neighboring island, where he bade the tiny bird farewell. Then, Pereira de Souza headed back home. And that appeared to be that — until a few hours later.
An incredible surprise
As Pereira de Souza began to slip back into his normal routine, he was interrupted by a strange noise outside his house. It sounded almost melancholic, mirroring the tone of a donkey’s cry.
Yet it wasn’t Eeyore who had rocked up at the beach home. Instead, it was the penguin he’d not long left behind. The little bird had decided to come back to his comfortable refuge!
Say hi to Dindim!
We can only imagine Pereira de Souza’s surprise: there’s no way he could’ve seen this coming. But rather than trying to release the penguin again, he allowed him to stay in the garden.
Over time, Pereira de Souza recognized that a heartwarming bond was being formed. And with the help of his young grandson, the retiree even gave his new pal a name. They christened him Dindim: a fittingly cute moniker!
“Looked so beautiful”
As for what happened next, Pereira de Souza spoke to the Ilha Grande Webdoc YouTube channel in March 2016. He recalled, “[Dindim] came in March, then passed April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.”
“He stayed [for] nearly 11 months with me. Then when he shed his feathers just before carnival, when he looked so beautiful, he left.” Yep, Dindim finally departed in February 2012.
End of the road?
Just like that, it seemed as though this cute friendship had reached its end. But given the previous faux-goodbye, Pereira de Souza hadn’t been completely sure. He continued, “Everybody said, ‘[Dindim] won’t come back.’”
“I said, ‘Well, I don’t know. I can’t say yes or no.’” As time went on, though, it looked for all the world as though the locals had called it right, and DinDim had disappeared for good this time.
“So much happiness”
No one had seen hide nor hair of Dindim around Provetá Beach, suggesting that the penguin really had left his human friend for good. Yet just as Pereira de Souza was getting used to life without him again, he was then greeted by the most unexpected of sights.
The former bricklayer revealed, “Exactly four months later, he arrived here on the beach. When he saw me at [my home’s] door, he ran to me with so much happiness.”
A developing routine
A clear routine started to form after that, with Pereira de Souza shedding more light on it to Globo TV in 2016. He noted, “[Dindim] has been coming back to visit me for the past four years.”
“He arrives in June and leaves to go home in February. And every year he becomes more affectionate as he appears even happier to see me.” It really was as sweet as it sounded!
“Wags his tail like a dog”
As cute as their bond was, though, expert João Paulo Krajewski noted that it was also highly unusual. As he said to The Independent, “I have never seen anything like this before.”
“I think the penguin believes João is part of his family and probably a penguin as well. When he sees him he wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight.”
More confusion
The local fishermen were equally baffled by Dindim’s behavior as well, with one speaking to The Wall Street Journal in October 2015. Mario Castro stated, “The funniest thing is that the penguin might stay here for a week.”
“Then it walks down to the beach and leaves. It spends ten, 12, 15 days [at sea], and then comes back to the same house. They’re supposed to join together to find a path to the south, but he doesn’t!”
An adorable parting
When Dindim did leave Provetá Beach for months at a time, though, Pereira de Souza always tried to see him off. And this led to an adorable moment that further highlighted their unlikely friendship.
The retiree explained, “The day he wanted to go to the sea, to leave for the second time, I started calling him. He came behind me, and I said, ‘Go to the sea, go!’”
“I would go with you”
“[Dindim] looked out there, turned, and called me,” Pereira de Souza continued. “[I said], ‘No I won’t leave with you, I don’t know how to swim like you. If I knew, I would go with you.’”
“And then [he] went ‘splash,’ he just dived in. And then I said, ‘Alright, Dindim is gone.’” Yet that particular goodbye had quite the effect on the Ilha Grande resident.
“Crazy” dreams
Pereira de Souza admitted, “When [Dindim] left, at night I dreamed I was speaking with him. I said, ‘I think I’m going crazy. A penguin from the sea and I’m here dreaming of playing with him!”
As any animal-lover would tell the former bricklayer, there’s nothing “crazy” about that — even if his animal friend was a wild penguin! But what had the pair actually got up to while they were together?
No touching!
One thing was for sure: Dindim only had eyes for Pereira de Souza. As he told Globo TV, “No one else is allowed to touch him. 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.” On top of that, no other animals could get close to the retiree. The penguin didn’t give them a chance!
Gaining worldwide interest
Due to the adorable and unique nature of this story, it quickly gained traction across the world. Pereira de Souza and Dindim weren’t just local celebrities anymore! Mind you, not all of the global coverage proved to be accurate.
According to Dr. Krajewski, who authored the Globo TV report, several factual errors had been shared about aspects of the tale. For instance, some articles had stated Pereira de Souza was a fisherman, not a retired bricklayer.
“Extremely unlikely”
Elsewhere, other pieces had claimed that Dindim would travel “5,000 miles every year to see his rescuer.” Taking in 2016 to Facebook, Dr. Krajewski wrote, “We have never said this in our story.”
“[It] is extremely unlikely. We don’t know where the penguin goes when it is out at sea, but it’s extremely unlikely that it travels to Patagonia after leaving Ilha Grande.”
Did the rescue change things?
So yes, even after several years, Dindim’s aquatic movements were still a bit of mystery! But why had Dr. Krajewski been so convinced that the penguin didn’t go on excursions thousands of miles away?
Well, the expert believed that it tied back to the initial days that he spent with Pereira de Souza after getting caught in the oil spill. Dr. Krajewski also touched on their growing relationship here.
Dindim’s “imprinted” home
Dr. Krajewski penned, “My interpretation for the story is that, because Dindim was rescued, fed, and stayed with Mr. João for the entire part of the year where the species usually stay on the beach and breed along the coast of Patagonia, it imprinted Ilha Grande as its land-based home instead.”
“So, it’s very unlikely that Dindim breeds anywhere else, as some articles are stating. When these penguins finish breeding and moulting, they migrate and spend months feeding in the sea.”
“Very loyal to their partner”
“When all the Magellanic penguins are going to Patagonia, Dindim goes to Ilha Grande and recognizes Mr. João,” Dr. Krajewski’s Facebook post continued. “Penguins are usually very loyal to their partner.”
“They may live for over 25 years and usually mate with the same individual in the same nest every year. This site and partner fidelity certainly facilitated the development of the relationship between Dindim and Mr. João.”
Reaching breeding age
Referring back to Dindim’s breeding habits, though, Dr. Krajewski also had this to say. He added, “Judging by the first photos taken when the penguin was rescued and by an evaluation by local biologists, Dindim is reaching sexual maturity now.”
“He is estimated to be about six years old.” Meanwhile, researchers did start to learn even more about the remarkable penguin in March 2016 after fitting him with a tracking tag.
“Definite proof”
Thanks to that piece of kit, they could now get a better idea of where Dindim would go when he wasn’t at Provetá Beach. And in addition to that, it managed to clear something else up, too.
Dr. Krajewski informed CNN, “For the first time, we have definite proof that it is the same penguin returning to Mr. João’s house, since he came back with the tag.” What a twist that would’ve been!
Making the best of a unique situation
But going back to the bond that had developed between Pereira de Souza and Dindim, Dr. Krajewski had one final thing to note. As he said to CNN, “Professionals who work with animal rescues make the most to avoid relationships like this.”
“[It’s] so they’re able to reintroduce the animal into the wild. But this isolated case in Brazil certainly allowed Dindim to live and was the best this humble and kind man could do for the penguin.”
“He loves me”
Speaking of that “kind man,” it seems only fitting that Pereira de Souza should have the final word on this touching tale. And again, it highlighted how deeply it had affected him.
The retiree concluded, “I love [Dindim] as if he was a child. The same way that he loves me. I’ve never seen an animal this intelligent, who understands things as he does.”