Penguin Invasion

Magellanic penguins are among the more tropical of the genus' seventeen species. Which is to say they are native to places other than Antarctica. On the whole, your Magellanic penguins tend to stay south of the Tropic of Capricorn on the continent of South America, hanging out along the coasts of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and southern Chile. It's rare to see them as far north as Uraguay.

Until recently.

Over the last few years young Magellanic penguins have been showing up on the beaches of Saquerema, a resort town east of Rio de Janiero in Brazil. The San Francisco Chronicle says "surfers tell of riding the waves only to look up and see a penguin swimming beside them. Last year there were an estimated 50 birds in the town. Now the estimate is 250.

There are many questions, besides the obvious ones:

Why are they all between 6 and 9 months old?
Why Saquerema and not, say, Ipanema or Copacabana?
Why do some locals put them in the fridge?
Why do some locals put them onthe fridge?

Less of a mystery is why some locals keep them as pets, taking them for walks on the beach.

Of course, the best answers might come from the Linux community. Clearly, it's a movement. Our own best guess is that it has something to do with World Domination. Whatever, we're ready to report on every new development.

Doc Searls