Tiny blind penguin gets airborne in marine haven

Blindy the little blue penguin was born without functioning eyes and developed the unusual habit of swimming in tight circles.

So, to prevent the bird from continually crashing into the side of the small pond where it swims, Shireen Helps began tossing it out into deeper water. Penguins are flightless, but Blindy, for a few moments anyway, gets to be airborne.

Blindy lives in New Zealand's Flea Bay, home to three humans and more than 2,500 penguins. Efforts by the Helps family over more than three decades have helped save the bay's penguins from predators while many nearby colonies were wiped out.