Your favourite same-sex penguin couple welcome their fluffy baby
Just two weeks after penguin couple Sphen and Magic, collectively known as Sphengic, stole our hearts forever, the pair have welcomed their own little baby chick.
As we lovingly informed you, the two male gentoo penguins became inseparable in the Macquarie Island exhibit at Australia's Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. They built their own pebble nest together, so well that the aquarium staff gave the pair a dummy egg to take care of.
After proving highly responsible egg parents, staff replaced the fake egg with a real one, extra from another penguin couple. And guys, it's hatched!
Born on Friday, Oct. 19 at 5:45pm weighing just 91 grams, the little chick used its beak to "pip" out of his egg over three days, after an incubation period of around 36 days. The chick is yet to be named, and according to ABC its sex will be determined with a blood test when it's older. It's the aquarium's first sub-Antarctic penguin chick since the colony arrived.
According to the aquarium, Sphen and Magic are already exceptional foster dads.
“Baby Sphengic has already stolen our hearts! We love watching the proud parents doting and taking turns caring for their baby chick,” said Tish Hannan, penguin department supervisor at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, in a press statement.
"With that said, the first 20 days of a penguin chick’s life are the most vulnerable so it is extra important the chick is very happy, healthy and well fed by his parents."
Here's Magic being an A+ feeder. What a cool dad:
The little chick will stay with its dads for the first five to six weeks of his little life, and like all babies, will need to be fed a lot — up to 10 times a day. Then, it'll grow up nice and strong, start shedding those fluffy baby penguin feathers (oh), and then gear up to learn how to swim.
Other than just being an incredibly cute happening, it's a huge educational pull for the aquarium. Sub-Antarctic penguins face a loss of habitat and breeding nests due to global warming from human-induced climate change, and that's on top of plastic pollution which penguins can often consume and pass to their babies.
So, while this is an exceptionally happy day, there's a much bigger picture for these adorable creatures.
Additional reporting by Kellen Beck.
Topics Animals
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
