Three British men who broke into an Australian Sea World while intoxicated, swam with dolphins and stole a penguin, claimed they had no memory of the incident when the woke up hungover the next day.

According to police, the three young men from Wales, who are currently residing on Queensland's Gold Coast, unlawfully entered the marine park last Saturday night, and proceeded take a semi-nude dip inside the dolphin tank. They then moved on to the penguin enclosure, where they helped themselves to a 7-year-old Fairy Penguin named Dirk.

Upon awaking the next day and discovering an aquatic bird roaming around their rented room in Surfers Paradise, the men struggled to piece together the events of the night before.

They eventually decided to ditch Dirk in a nearby shark-infested lagoon, where he was luckily spotted Sunday after being chased out of the water, possibly by a predator. The frightened animal was returned to Sea World and reunited with its mate, Peaches.

The police were able to track down the men thanks to a Facebook status update in which one of the perps allegedly bragged about kidnapping the penguin.

"Still a bit fuzzy about the whole thing but on behalf of the three of us we are very sorry and it was just a prank which went way too far," said one of the men, Rhys Jones, in an interview aired on Australian television.

Jones provided 7News with video he recorded of the penguin inside the men's apartment, which he says proves they meant Dirk no harm.

The trio are due in court May 2nd to face a number of serious charges, including trespassing and stealing a protected animal.

[screengrab via 7News]