Renee’s Page

 

UPDATE Apr. 25, 4:30p ET: Things aren’t looking good for our Brazilian balloon priest.

Five days after he went missing after strong winds blew him out to sea while attempting to set a record for flight using helium balloons, the Guardian reports that rescue workers have begun scaling down the search for Reverend Adelir Antonio de Carli. The Brazilian air force announced today it has suspended its search efforts, while the navy continued to patrol waters off the coast of Santa Catarina, though they too are considering halting operations.

“The chances [of survival] are increasingly slim and we are considering when to end the search effort,” Lieutenant Francisco Jose Cavalcante, of the navy’s southern search unit in Rio Grande do Sul state, told Reuters.

“It’s difficult to talk about survival. There have been cases of shipwrecked people having lived for four or five days at sea.”

Firefighters continue to search beaches and islands off the coast where they think the priest may have washed up.

Pierre, an African (or Jackass) penguin, at a good 25 years old, was going bald with an embarrassingly exposed, pale pink behind.

Without his waterproof feathers, Pierre was unwilling to take the plunge into the penguin tank and would shiver on the sidelines while his peers played in the water.

“He was cold; he would shake,” said a senior aquatic biologist at the academy.

Oceanic Worldwide, a supplier of dive gear, stepped in to make the world’s first penguin wetsuit.

“We were really excited to do it,” said a company marketing specialist. “We heard most of these penguins only live to 20, and our little buddy there was already 25. Anything we could do to help them, we were all for it.”

Pierre was outfitted with the suit about six weeks ago. Since then, he has gained weight, grown back feathers on his hind parts and is again acting like his feisty, alpha-male self.

No plans yet for a matching surf board!