By NICK PERRY - Associated Press 
Getty
Images - WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - AUGUST 29: The emperor penguin
named "Happy Feet" stands in his container next to Gareth Morgan, who
helped fund the penguin's electronic tracking equipment, aboard
WELLINGTON,
New Zealand (AP) — The wayward emperor penguin dubbed Happy Feet craned
his head, flapped his flippers and seemed a little perturbed as he
started his journey home to cooler southern waters Monday.
Happy
Feet has been placed in a custom-made crate for the journey and will be
kept cool with 60 buckets of ice. He'll be fed fish.
The
Tangaroa is New Zealand's largest research vessel and was already
scheduled to head into frigid southern waters to check on fish numbers
in order to set fishing quotas.
The
3-foot-tall (meter-tall) penguin was found on a New Zealand beach June
20, far from his Antarctic feeding grounds. He was moved to the zoo
after he became ill from eating sand that he likely mistook for snow.
He's since regained weight and been cleared to be returned to the wild.
Lisa
Argilla, a veterinarian who has helped nurse the penguin back to
health, said he has a "stronger and stroppier attitude" than when he
first arrived at the zoo, when his demeanor seemed flat and his feather
condition was poor.
"He's definitely a survivor," she said.
He's
also popular. Viewers have watched him eat, sleep and waddle on a zoo
webcam. And he's been fitted with a GPS tracker so people can follow his
progress online after he is released.
"He's
brought a lot of hope and joy to people," said Karen Fifield,
Wellington Zoo's chief executive. "His story has driven to the heart of
what makes us human."
The boat's
skipper Richard O'Driscoll said that once the Tangaroa has reached the
drop-off point, he will likely cut the engines and then release the
penguin from the deck into the sea using a makeshift canvas slide.
More
than 1,700 people went to the zoo Sunday to bid goodbye to Happy Feet,
who was visible in a glassed area while getting final medical checks.
The zoo has covered the cost of his stay with about $28,000 in
donations.
Argilla said she will
miss Happy Feet but hopes it will be the last she sees of him. By next
year, she said, he will be old enough to find a mate and breed.
___
Online: Follow Happy Feet's progress at http://www.niwa.co.nz or http://www.sirtrack.com
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