In the tenuously paraphrased words of soul legend Percy Sledge, ‘When a man loves a penguin, he can’t keep his mind on nothing else.’

Now, thanks to the story of a South American Magellanic penguin called Dindim, the same can be said in reverse. Dindim’s natural breeding instincts should direct him on an annual pilgrimage to the Patagonian coasts of Argentina and Chile. Instead, once a year the devoted penguin swims to a Brazilian island to spend time with the retired bricklayer that once saved his life. 

In 2011, 71 year old Joao Pereira de Souza discovered his soon to be avian friend covered in oil, starving on an island beach on the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Mr Pereira de Souza recognised the penguin’s suffering and carried it home, where he spent a week nursing his patient back to health. He believes that in the time he spent cleaning the bird’s oil-slicked feathers and feeding it fresh fish, he was able to develop an incredible bond with the penguin - so much so that he decided to affectionately name him "Dindim."

In an interview with Globo TV, which shows the bird honking gleefully upon recognizing its rescuer, Mr Pereira de Souza said "I love the penguin like it’s my own child and I believe the penguin loves me." Their relationship is certainly unique and has invited the curiosity of Mr Pereira de Souza’s neighbours who continue to be astounded by the penguin’s uncharacteristic behaviour. Mario Castro, a local Fisherman said:

"The funniest thing is that the penguin might stay here for a week, then it walks down to the beach and leaves, it spends 10, 12, 15 days and then comes back to the same house, they [penguins] are supposed to join together and find some path to the south, but he doesn’t."

Dindim instead prefers to spend the bulk of his time in the company of Mr Pereira, making the Rio de Janeiro island its home for 8 or so months of the year.  

Biologist Joao Paulo Krajewski, who interviewed Mr Pereira de Souza for Globo TV, has since admitted, “I have never seen anything like this before. I think the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin as well.” When you consider that penguins are renowned for their loyalty as well as their tendency to pick lifelong mates, Dindim’s attachment to Mr Pereira de Souza doesn't seem so strange.

That said, since 2010 concern has been growing around the number of oceanic creatures washing up on Brazilian shores. According to The Independent, Bahia’s Humpback Whale Institute recorded over 180 separate cases of mammals stranded along Brazil’s coast. Unfortunately, the growing numbers of stranded animals are due largely to the impact of human behaviour on the environment. Rio de Janeiro’s State University has said that sea animals face "increased danger with the ongoing contamination of the oceans with oil and other derivatives" spilled by oil tankers and everyday pollution in general.

The story of Dindim and Mr. Pereira de Souza is a double-edged sword. It simultaneously highlights the incredible dangers of environmental negligence by humans, while demonstrating our potential to protect, nurture and connect with nature. Mr Pereira de Souza’s show of empathy, which not only saved a penguin’s life but also enabled a love story that sounds more like a Pixar movie than real life, is an example for us all.