Photo of the Day: A Humboldt Penguin's Road Home

Tomas, a wayward Humboldt penguin found off the coast of Peru, takes the express boat back to a penguin colony at San Lorenzo Island.

'I hope you found my tie. This tux looks naked without it.' (Photo: Mariana Bazo/Reuters)

Lifeguards, recognizing a lost penguin when they see one, picked up the little bird off Agua Dulce beach near Lima. Poached for meat and prized as pets, Humboldts are an endangered species according to the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture.

Tomas's story is as old as time: one moment you're kicking about with the lads, mind elsewhere; next thing you're alone, no idea where the flock everyone went. Lost and abandoned, you end the afternoon center stage in an interspecies rescue mission, cutting a wake to San Lorenzo Island in the belly of a speed boat.
It's uncertain how the penguin's transport team knew his name was Tomas and that he was headed to San Lorenzo. TakePart only hopes that the freedom-loving bird wasn't swept up by well-meaning but misguided humans after waiting his entire life to get off that god-forsaken island.

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