Real-Life Penguin Happy Feet Tracker Will Steal Your Labor Day

Attention depressed Americans trying to figure out how to make the most of the end of the Labor Day weekend: forget the barbecues. They're so Fourth of July anyway. The Happy Feet Tracker will keep you your kids tied to the computer all blessed day. And they won't even realize they're getting education on a non-school day. If you don't remember the story of Happy Feet, I'm not talking the ridiculously cute kids movie. This is a real life (and still super cute) Emperor Penguin named for said flick. The 3-year-old penguin showed up 3,000 miles from home this past spring, lost on a New Zealand beach where he was filling up on sand thinking it was snow. Emergency surgery and some TLC from the Wellington Zoo have brought Happy Feet back to health, and yesterday they kicked this bird back out of the nest. He's headed home -- albeit his own way. This is the penguin who got 3,000 miles off course to begin with. He's not going to take a straight shot for Antarctica. Which brings us to the fun part. Besides the seriously adorable videos of Happy Feet on the Our Far South Happy Feet Tracker site, they're using a satellite tag to follow his every movement, which is being plotted in live time on the site. It will take an estimated two to three months to get him there, providing plenty of fascinating penguin movement info for scientistis. Bingo! Education for the kiddos thanks to the wonders of GPS and the Internet. And honestly, just a feel-good story to end the summer. We've got enough bad news on a regular basis. But watching this little guy try to make his way home is the stuff that makes you cry and grin at the same time. Just check out the farewell video to Happy Feet and try not to get all weepy!

2011-09-06T17:09:20+00:00
Duration: 06:42