A long-time employee of fishing company Sanford got to meet one of his more unusual customers on Tuesday.
Jim Routhan has supplied fish to a penguin rehab centre near Dunedin for the last 30 years - however he'd never seen a bird until today.
"Just to be here and see such a beautiful bird getting back to full fitness and health is just simply amazing," he says.
Mr Routhan's special treatment was a reward for 30 years of service to the conservation reserve on Otago Peninsula.
He helped set up a scheme at fishing company Sanford to donate surplus fish to the facility, which nurses sick, injured, and starving birds back to health.
"To know that we've played a little bit of a part in rehabilitating these birds back into the wild is something that I'm proud to be a part of," he adds.
But until today he'd never seen where the 5 tonnes of fish a year ended up.
"It's hugely important to our operation. We're going through a kilo per penguin per day. If we've got 50 penguins, that's 50 kilos," Penguin place's Julia Reid says.
It's important work, penguins like the yellow-eyeds are battling for survival including attacks from predators like barracuda or sharks.
Mr Routhan says he was overwhelmed by his visit and while he's retiring from Sanford, the company insists the scheme will continue.
Newshub.
