And I Would Swim 5,000 Miles and I Would Swim 5,000 More

For the past five years, this penguin has traveled 5,000 miles to visit a remote fishing village in Brazil. Why? To visit the retired bricklayer who once saved its life when it was dying in an oil slick. Grab a hankie and press play, kids.




Submitted by A M, Elizabeth G. and Andrew Y.! Update: And Paul P. and Arne too, sorry that I forgot you!

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15 thoughts on “And I Would Swim 5,000 Miles and I Would Swim 5,000 More

  1. hilz March 11, 2016 / 9:48 am

    I am so jealous!! That is just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. *Sneef*

  2. dubravkamcvmd March 11, 2016 / 10:05 am

    A hankie and then some! I’m flabbergasted. The ability of the most varied animals to form deep emotional bonds is something humans have not sufficiently incorporated into our understanding of the planet.

    I saw a segment on some National Geographic show about a pride of lions, all females with cubs, where one of the adults was not well, beat-up looking with a broken jaw that had not healed properly. She couldn’t hunt or eat normally. The others had brought down something like an antelope and everyone was gathered round the body feasting. The injured lion couldn’t bite properly. One of the others bit into a hind leg of the antelope and pulled it back so that the antelope was more on its back and it’s soft parts were exposed, and held the antelope that way for a while so that the injured lion could eat the soft parts. Later the injured lion went over to what I assumed was the lion who helped her and nuzzled her.

  3. Faye March 11, 2016 / 10:25 am

    It’s easier to eat, exploit and destroy animals’ habitat if you ignore the facts that they have emotions and feel pain.

    Same with human vs human interaction if you dehumanize someone or groups of people it becomes easier to exploit them, steal their land etc.

    That is why THE CUTE is sooo important.

    • Julie March 11, 2016 / 10:58 am

      Faye – I wish I could give your comment a gajillion likes!

      Well said!

    • Murray March 11, 2016 / 5:31 pm

      I could not agree with you more. Well, said, Faye.

  4. Julie March 11, 2016 / 11:04 am

    There’s another video of this on facebook where the penguin shakes his butt/tail and vocalizes just like a dog when he sees his human.

  5. Saffron March 11, 2016 / 11:47 am

    This man is rich beyond measurement.

    Gotta go now, my eyeballs are leaking.

    • Faye March 11, 2016 / 4:11 pm

      Yes. He IS rich. To have a continuing relationship with free wild animal is priceless.

      The man may have been created to fulfill this one task of saving the penguin.

      I would also like to believe that their souls have met before and will meet again. Sometimes you’re the penguin and sometimes you’re not.

  6. Gigi_the cat lady March 11, 2016 / 12:50 pm

    I read an article on this and it said the penguin won’t let any other human touch him, he bites them.

    • Julie March 11, 2016 / 1:49 pm

      My dogs do this, too.

      I think this penguin is actually a dog! 🙂

  7. Ricky's Mom March 11, 2016 / 5:03 pm

    This is so lovely!

    (PEDANT MODE ON) I wish the Wall Street Journal had bothered to learn the correct spelling of Dindim (not Jing-Jing). You can hear the d pronounced like the English J sound in “Dindi,” as sung by Astrud Gilberto (a nice background for thoughts of Brazil and penguins). (PEDANT MODE OFF)

    https://youtu.be/tQJ4k6w03oc

    • Ms Can Opener March 12, 2016 / 1:39 am

      Ah Dindi, one of my favorite Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions. He was something else.

  8. cheshirekittehkat March 11, 2016 / 7:25 pm

    This just reiterates what I believe: there are so many things in this world (and the next) that you just do not understand or cannot explain….. ;

  9. amyliz March 11, 2016 / 8:03 pm

    So lovely and deeply touching.

  10. Kar March 11, 2016 / 9:28 pm

    I think that I remember this. There was a discussion that the guy wasn’t trying too hard to discourage the penguin from visiting.

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