Friday, March 12, 2010

Rogue penguin goes business casual

It seems that a picture of a black penguin taken for National Geographic has caused something of a stir on the Internet. I wonder if this guy's the penguin version of popular albino whale Migaloo? The original picture and post sparked a debate in the comments about whether the picture was photoshopped, and another passenger on the same trip posted his own photos of the unique bird. Then a real news outlet got in on the action! And it turns out our dark friend has been spotted before by other visitors.

Turns out this penguin probably has a condition called melanism that is rare but not unheard of for penguins. It seems this one has been around for a few years and thus doesn't seem to have suffered much. In the pictures he looks decently plump. Most other penguins with the condition will have dark splotches but their color won't be completely altered.

We here at ASOC wish him all the best. It's always awkward to be the one person at the party not in formal wear.

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