Up close with the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium gay penguin dads and their chick

Exclusive pictures and video: Sea Life Sydney Aquarium’s gay penguins are excelling at fatherhood and it seems they have a thing or two to teach human parents struggling under the mental load of child rearing.

Sea Life Sydney Aquarium’s gay penguins are excelling at fatherhood and it seems they have a thing or two to teach human parents struggling under the mental load of child rearing.

Trainer Laurie Keller has confirmed societal values didn’t crumble inside the Penguin Expedition exhibit when male Gentoos Sphen and Magic became dads last month.

In fact as penguins have already achieved equality between genders the dads didn’t rate so much a frosty look from the other birds.

“In the penguin world, males and females share parental responsibility completely equally, so it really makes no difference that Sphen and Magic are both male,” Ms Keller said.

“Sphen and Magic are both doing extremely well, they are absolute naturals!

“Whilst Sphen is older and is excellent at caring for the chick, Magic doing a great job at mastering his skills. The pair make a great team.”

The Wentworth Courier was given an exclusive up close look at the chick who is now becoming bolder since its October 19 birth.

Gay penguin dads and chick

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“All the penguins in the exhibit were very excited to hear the tiny squeaks of Sea Life Sydney’s very first Gentoo penguin chick,” Ms Keller said.

“During the first few days, the parents were very good at hiding their precious little surprise so he wasn’t too visible but after a week the little one became more adventurous and spent a lot more time out in the open.

“The public have loved seeing him in the Penguin Expedition exhibit, and the global response by the community on our social media as well as international media, has been absolutely overwhelming.

“We won’t know the gender of the chick until it is around eight weeks of age. As there are no physical characteristics to tell apart female and male penguins, we will need to take a blood sample and perform a DNA test.

“We are in the midst of deciding on a name for the little chick at the moment — as it’s our first one, we want to make sure we give it a very special name!”

Guests can visit Sphengic and their baby chick in the Penguin Expedition exhibit at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium.

For those looking for a more intimate encounter, a Penguin Passport experience allows you to enter their icy wonderland to witness both King and Gentoo penguins up close.