A group of 18 penguins waddled down a runway to the ocean after receiving rehabilitation from an Argentinian aquarium.

In a press release, Mundo Marino said the group comprised 17 Magellanic penguins and one rockhopper penguin found in the Partido de la Costa region in the Buenos Aires Province between February and April.

Fundacion Mundo Marino said that the birds marked 10,000 animals they have helped over the past 40 years.

Sergio Rodríguez Heredia, biologist and head of the Fundacion Mundo Marino Rescue Center explained the condition of the birds when they were found (translated by Google Translate): “These birds appeared stranded on the beach with a condition commonly known as the stranded penguin syndrome. They were malnourished and dehydrated, with hypothermia and a high degree of parasitism. Not finding enough food, they lose their ability to thermoregulate …. In some cases, malnutrition was also accompanied by problems shedding their plumage.”

The center said they warmed and fed the penguins until they were healthy enough to return to the sea. Credit: Mundo Marino via Storyful

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