So Very Lost: Antarctic Visitor Shocks Family on Australian Beach

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A family in Western Australia had a “mind-blowing experience” earlier this month. They saw an emperor penguin at Ocean Beach in Denmark (a town in Australia), and it was a long way from its home in Antarctica.

Jazz Bailey posted photos and videos of the unique visitor to her public Facebook profile. She says a friend first discovered the bird and reached out asking for a contact to a rescue center. Bailey provided the number and then decided to take the kids to the beach to see if they too might spot the Antarctic visitor.

“Sure enough there it was just waddling along the sand, seeming a little lost but so very chill and inquisitive of us,” Bailey wrote in her Facebook post sharing the photos and videos. “We didn’t go too close, it actually came towards us for a closer look for around ten minutes before deciding to head off its own way.”

Emperor penguins are the largest penguin species in the world, and they only live in Antarctica. Bailey has no idea how the bird ended up in Western Australia, but she hopes with some rehab, it will have the strength to get back home.

See the lost emperor penguin hanging out on a beach in Australia here: