well that's awkward

Awkward is an odd word.  The second half of it is directional.  Along the lines of upward, downward, etc.

Awk has an Old Norse origin meaning "backwards, turned the wrong way".   In Norse it was actually afugr, which is near enough to "ah....fubar" to count in my book.

Awk sadly for our tale has nothing to do with the Great Auk, a now extinct species of North Atlantic bird in the genus Pinguinus (although confusingly, not technically penguins).  Auks while quite nimble in the water were awkward indeed on land.  This did not serve them well once mariners discovered how tasty they were.

Charmingly there are people seriously considering "de-extinctioning" the Great Auk.  As a recently extinct critter there are plenty of preserved specimens, eggs, etc.  Without going the full Jurassic Park, and boy didn't that get awkward, it should be possible to bring back a "pretty close" Great Auk.  And with far less demand by cantankerous whalers who'd eat fishy tasting bird meat they'd likely be left to waddle about in peace.