The internet is flooded with social commentary over a viral clip of a lone penguin. Featured in a 2007 documentary titled - Encounters at the End of the World - the lone penguin is seen walking away from its colony in Antarctica. The footage shows the penguin ignoring the usual route to the Ross Sea feeding grounds and heading towards distant icy mountains instead.
"One of the penguins caught our eye…the one in the centre. He would neither go towards feeding grounds ... .nor return to its colony," the narrator tells in the viral clip.
The narrator explained that soon after, the penguin was spotted heading towards the mountains, some 70 kilometres away from his location. "Even if he was caught and brought back, he would immediately head back towards the mountains. But why?..." the narrator asks.
This clip is now going viral on social media, with users trying to figure out the reason behind the penguin's unusual move. Many see it as a metaphor for current global events, linking its journey to human behaviour. Some joked that the penguin mirrors humanity, heading towards oblivion.
While many users called the move an act of rebellion, some noted that such journeys lead to certain deaths. The clip has sparked discussions on animal mental health, what the penguin symbolises and if there are positive lessons in the incident.
How Netizens Reacted
"The penguin knows," a comment on the viral clip read on X, signalling either an end-of-the-world feeling or a sense of a deeper purpose.
Another user commented, linking the penguin's unusual trek to evolution: "Seems good to have some penguins like this. One in a hundred may achieve greatness and expand the penguin domain. High-risk, random adventures drive evolutionary selection and progress."
"Glory to those who dare," another user echoed similar sentiments.
Some users were also concerned for the penguin, understanding that its dangerous trek was likely to result in certain death.
"I don't know why anybody pretends to understand the penguin. Like you can anthropomorphise it and project your own metaphorical meaning onto its actions all you want but from an objective lens, this penguin is going to die of starvation and it shouldn't be doing this," a user said.
Others also expressed concern for the penguin's mental health: "That's really sad."
The clip appears to have gone viral after being shared on a Reddit page.
On the Reddit page, over 460 comments appeared, with some users suggesting that the penguin knew its journey could be fatal but chose it anyway.
"I truly believe some animals choose to die and know how to do it. For all we know, it had cancer and was in immense pain. Let it follow its instinct. It's kinder. It's doing it for a reason, be that mental or physical imbalance. Either way it's not normal behaviour so leave it be. It knows," a user posted and received over 60 upvotes.
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