Meet Dindim the Penguin.
For the past four years, Dindim has been stopping by a small shanty located along the coast of southeast Brazil to visit an old bricklayer named Joao Pereira de Souza, the man who once saved his life.
One seemingly ordinary day in 2011, De Souza came across a small Magellanic South American penguin that was stranded on the beach. The animal was covered in oil and appeared to be close to starving to death, so the man brought it with him in order to care for the poor creature. He gave the bird some sardines to eat and nursed it back to health.
De Souza, who gave the penguin the nickname Dindim, grew close to the creature and the two of them became inseparable since then.
Even when Dindim vanished into the ocean for months, likely to catch some food or mate with other penguins, the bird always finds his way back to De Souza's shanty.
As a Magellanic South American penguin, Dindim takes part in his species' breeding season, which sees the creatures make the journey from Patagonia in the southern tip of the South American continent to waters farther north such as in Argentina, Chile and even in Brazil. This could explain why Dindim keeps disappearing for a few months.
What makes Dindim unique compared to other penguins of his kind is that he appears to have developed a particular fondness for De Souza and his small town.
De Souza said that some people even told him that Dindim wouldn't come back, but somehow the penguin keeps on visiting him for the past few years. He said that Dindim drops by his shanty in June and returns to the ocean in February.
Every time the penguin comes by to visit him, De Souza said Dindim becomes more and more affectionate and happier to see him.
"I love the penguin like it's my own child and I believe the penguin loves me," De Souza pointed out.
Scientists are also not quite sure why Dindim keeps dropping by the Brazilian town to visit his best friend.
It is likely that the penguin sees De Souza as part of its family, one biologist explained. It keeps wagging its tail and honking in delight whenever it sees the old bricklayer.
