This is the heartwarming moment a jackass penguin waddled back to the ocean after it was cut from an abandoned fishing net by two fishermen.
Stephan Brill, 29, and Ruan Van Der Walt, 32, were on a Saturday fishing trip near East London, South Africa, when they stumbled across the seabird tangled by its beak and neck next to two other penguins that were already dead.
The pair cut the bird loose, which they said had been there for ‘a couple of days’ and released it back into the wild.
The two fishermen Stephan Brill, 29, and Ruan Van Der Walt, 32, cut the penguin from a net before setting it free near East London, South Africa
They thought the bird had been trapped with the net wrapped around its beak for two days based on the smell from the two other dead penguins
Footage shows the dazed bird standing on a plastic board looking around as waves lap against the lids’ sides.
Then, it steps across the surf before diving back in and uses its wings to swim back out into the ocean.
The pair claim the bird stopped further out to sea and gave the duo a look back in a ‘special moment’.
Stephan, a GP from East London, South Africa, said: ‘This little guy has been stuck for a while and despite the risk of getting nipped we knew we were going to do whatever we could to help him.
‘We could see he was alive as he was flapping about, he had a lot of strength left so we were very happy about that.
The penguin was released in a quiet cove where the fishermen had seen some small fish near East London, South Africa
The lucky penguin swam back out to the ocean using its wings to propel it through the water
‘Initially he was a bit nervous but then I think he got used to us – in that position he was a sitting duck for a predator.
‘I was a wary of his beak I as I didn’t know how badly tangled he was, how tight it was round his neck and whether he might struggle while we tried to free him causing him to hurt himself more.
‘Very carefully with a knife we cut the pieces from behind his head so he couldn’t see us and then pulled it off from the front.
‘When it finally came off he looked at us as if to say ‘what? I’m free, really?’’
The fishermen thought the penguin had been there ‘a couple of days’ based on the smell from the two corpses that were also in the net.
Steven Brill, who is also a GP, was photographed cutting the penguin free from the net that was caught around its beak
They then put it in a box and carried it back to the sea. The Marine Conservation Society said fishing nets are a floating ‘death trap’ for animals
The jackass penguin had a lucky escape after it was found by two fishermen
Concerned the penguin may be tired or dehydrated Stephan and his orthopaedic surgeon friend Ruan coaxed him into a big bucket and carried him to the water’s edge.
Stephan said: ‘I walked about 100m to get to the sea and there was a nice little cove of calmer water.
‘Earlier in the day we’d seen a lot of small fish in the area so we took the top of the bucket off and let him stand there and get acclimatised.
‘We encouraged him to go into the ocean and then he started waddling, as soon as he got in the water and wet all his feathers he swam out quite well.
‘After we finished filming the video we stood around and watched him. He was too far out of sight to take any photos but we could see him quite clearly ducking and diving and swimming around.
‘He stayed in that little bay for at least ten minutes and would have been safe there from sharks and predators.
‘He swam under one or two waves, looked back at us for a while and then he swam off further – it was quite a special moment.’
Stephen Brill with the penguin after it was cut free from the net. The bird stands and looks around the area
After they released the penguin the pair watched it swim away and said that at one point it even looked back at them
Stephan said that people who use beaches need to be responsible.
He said straws, cigarette butts, plastic fishing nets and fishing lines that litter the shoreline could be prevented if people cleaned up after themselves.
The Marine Conservation Society branded fishing nets a floating ‘death trap’ and called on people to help wildlife by picking up their rubbish.
‘Litter in our oceans is a massive threat to wildlife globally and around UK shores’, said a spokesman.
‘We must act now to stop any more plastic entering our seas. Fishing nets lost at sea turn into floating deathtraps.’
They also said that plastic in the oceans endangers wildlife.
‘Turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, larger mammals are found dead with grotesque amounts of plastic waste in their stomachs, doubtless contributing to their deaths, and seabirds are making nests with plastic pieces and even feeding microplastics to their chicks.
‘We must act now to stop any more plastic entering our seas.’