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Trekking alongside with a suicidal penguin

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I think I remember seeing a documentary about penguin life, and one scene describe a penguin that decides to waddle towards the big icy mountain. Why do they do it is not known. Some think those penguin are explorers, and some think they are depressed. But either way, these rare penguins will all die in the journey regardless.

What we should do, in the name of science! Is go along with these penguin and trek alongside, making sure they don't die in their journey towards the mountain. Parts of the journey will be with humans guides to provide medical checkups and documentation purpose.

To fund the mission, a robotic UGV will follow along side the bird at a distance providing a live stream of the trek to a website (with GPS coordinates). If needed the UGV can provide the rations for the bird to keep trekking.

Midway though the journey, a warm suit will be provided if it gets too cold. But at no time will the bird be provided mechanized transport towards the centre, it will have to reach it with it's own two feet.

Once the penguin reaches the mountain... somehow without dying, the penguin will be flown back to the colony to live the rest of it's life. (But not before getting a group photo with the whole team of human guides that went alongside with it).

As for why we should do this? Well... science?

mofosyne, Jul 02 2014

reddit http://www.reddit.c...depressed_and_walk/
Some penguins get "depressed" and walk away from the sea alone, to their deaths. No one knows why. [xaviergisz, Jul 03 2014]

Penguin, Depressed... Werner Herzog https://www.youtube...watch?v=zWH_9VRWn8Y
[mofosyne, Jul 04 2014]

[link]






       It's meeting it's shoggoth
not_morrison_rm, Jul 02 2014
  

       You can take it out of other:general, can't you?   

       Because otherwise this idea gave up before it got started.
normzone, Jul 03 2014
  

       I thought I placed it in science. Anyway fixed again.
mofosyne, Jul 03 2014
  

       //Parts of the journey will be with human guides to provide medical checkups and documentation purpose//   

       ...as opposed to, alien guides?
...fellow penguin guides?
...polar bear guides?
  

       ...sherpas?   

       Sherpas would be cool.   

       Good intentions and all, but this wayward penguin now lives to procreate, spreading its wayward genes throughout the flock until vast numbers of penguins now demonstrate a penchant to wander off into the vast white abyss. The budget for your plan keeps expanding to meet increasing demand until the entire world's economic system collapses.   

       And it's all on your head. [mofosyne]. Don't mess with nature.
AusCan531, Jul 03 2014
  

       Hey! I thought we were on the same side here.   

       Sherpas don't charge exorbitantly or anything. Sheesh, the way you talk you'd think that the penguin wanted the mountain to come to it or something.   

       Cheap like borsht.   

       I like it. I think it should be robotic only though, the humans might spook us and then your experiment would fail
evilpenguin, Jul 03 2014
  

       Glue a webcam with GPS to the penguin. Then just wait.   

       // Sherpas would be cool //   

       That would depend on the season, their clothing, and their exertion, shirley ? A sherpa climbing ice ridges in a thick coat on a sunny day could get quite hot.
8th of 7, Jul 03 2014
  

       //I think I remember seeing a documentary about penguin life...//   

       So, this entire idea rests on the fractured bedrock of your memory?   

       I think we need to know quite a lot more about this documentary.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 03 2014
  

       Possibly it's trying out the old penguin axiom, "you can never cross the same glacier twice".   

       Results to be shown on the penguin version of Mythbusters.
not_morrison_rm, Jul 03 2014
  

       The youtube clip of the penguin walking towards the mountain is now added to the annotation on the side.
mofosyne, Jul 04 2014
  

       i've seen this particular scene. if you are going to anthropomorphosize this penguins behavior ,it's best to go further.   

       this is why i dinged you. i will compare the penguin to other species observed to participate in similar behaviors   

       1) oridnarily sociable whales go off wandering on their own at at various times of their lives for various reasons. it's not always fatal. some times it's young whales, sometime old.   

       2) chimpanzees and apes--particularly older males that have finished mating have been observed to live out the remainder of their lives in solitude.   

       3) solitary wandering social species (usually mammals but birds too) of many types have been observed anomolously on their own....   

       so , there could be many different reasons the particular animals is wandering off and its very hard , even with taking the animals context, to make a great guess as to what's going on inside the animals head.   

       it could be seeking novelty , curiosity, a sense of exploration, a sense of anger at not wanting to go with other birds,   

       its so hard to get into an animals mind, that you are essentially just messing around with it....by following it. nothing productive would come of it. and if you wanted to make the penguin your pet i suppose that would be your perogative.   

       nothing sciency about it at all. but it could be fun i guess. expensive though.
teslaberry, Jul 04 2014
  

       Not to mention the wandering tentacle syndrome, ie the hectocotylus to which some cephalopods delegate the tasks of coming up with chat-up lines and wearing that Old Spice aftershave.
not_morrison_rm, Jul 04 2014
  

       // it could be seeking novelty , curiosity, a sense of exploration, a sense of anger at not of exploration, a sense of anger at not wanting to go with other birds //   

       … or maybe the Voices were just particulalrly loud and insistent that day …
8th of 7, Jul 04 2014
  
      
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