The penguin stayed on the boat for about 10 minutes and shook off the freezing water from its plumage
John Bozinov shared a video of a penguin jumping into a tourist boat.
A polar guide was leading a tour through Antarctica’s Ross Sea when a lone chinstrap penguin jumped into his inflatable vessel. The guide switched off the boat engine to let the baby penguin come on board easily and enjoy the captivating Antarctic views with his other passengers. The penguin leapt onto the boat and perched itself next to a passenger. When another passenger tried to touch it, it took short jumps to move away from him. A video of the incident is now going viral on the Internet.
“I was completely shocked, to be honest. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in Zodiac boats around penguin colonies and it’s the first time this has ever happened,” John Bozinov, the polar guide, told the Daily Mail.
The penguin stayed on the boat for about 10 minutes and shook off water from its plumage. The tourists enjoyed having its company, although only for a short while, and clicked its pictures. The penguin was possibly trying to avoid predators in the water such as Orca or leopard seals, according to the video description shared by ViralHog.
Mr Bozinov, a 30-year-old guide from Wellington, New Zealand, said he believes that the penguin was so friendly due to being “lonely” as no other birds could be seen in the area. John has been guiding in polar regions of Antarctica and Arctic for six years, working as a photographer during their respective summer months.
The video was filmed in January 2020, when John was on a month-long voyage to the polar region, but was uploaded to social media only recently. It has received several comments with most users speaking for the flightless bird.
“What a cutie!” said one YouTube commenter.
“I don’t know who you guys are, but this is my Territory!” said Prithiviraj Balaji.
“Gah, don’t touch me. Hup…hup,” said CATELlegend1
Chinstrap penguins get their name due to the black band around their chin. They are the most abundant penguin in the Antarctic and gather in massive breeding colonies.
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