Colorful adult king penguins look so different than their own brown and fuzzy chicks that they were once thought to be different species by some early explorers.
Yet this baby king penguin called Pesto from Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium seems to be even more special. At just 9 months, he's already breaking all the records with his impressive weight of 22 kg, thanks to his hearty appetite of 25 fish a day.
More info: Sea Life Melbourne
Baby penguin instantly gained attention all over the internet with his impressive weight: at just 9 moths old, this chick is already 22 kg!
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Pesto was born on 31 January and he was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the Aquarium this year. The adorably cute, fuzzy penguin from Australia has already gone viral online. According to the Aquarium, more than 1.9 billion people around the world have viewed him through social media channels.
According to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, adult king penguins usually have a weight between 9.5 kg and 18 kg, therefore next to his doting parents, Hudson and Tango, who weigh 11 kilograms (24 pounds) each, Pesto looks like a real giant.
His impressive weight is due to a combination of good genes and good parents. The chick's biological dad, Blake, is the biggest and oldest penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium.
"He's officially the largest chick SEA LIFE Melbourne has ever seen, making him a huge hit with guests and fans around the world," the Aquarium wrote on their website. "From tender moments with foster parents Hudson and Tango to his adorable waddles into the colony, Pesto has been a true crowd-pleaser."
The combination of good genes and good parents explains Pesto's current weight, since his father Blake is the biggest and oldest penguin at the Aquarium
Image credits: @sealifemelbourneaquarium
Image credits: @sealifemelbourneaquarium
Image credits: @sealifemelbourneaquarium
Image credits: @sealifemelbourneaquarium
Pesto is approaching adulthood day by day, so he'll start to lose his brown feathers soon. His keepers believe the chick should trim down to about 15kg (33 pounds) in this process.
"He’s going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it," explained Jacinta Early, education supervisor at the Aquarium. "Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined."
Videos and photos of remarkably huge Pesto have already brought the world so much love and joy that the Aquarium's keepers hope this will still remain even after the baby penguin becomes an adult.
Pesto has recently gone viral online since people love his adorable figure and playful behavior
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Image credits: SEA LIFE Melbourne
While king penguins are known as second largest penguin species after the emperors, have you ever heard about blue penguins, or, as Australians call them, fairy penguins? At approximately 30 cm tall and weighing only around 1 kg as adults, they are considered the smallest in the world and the only ones of the genus Eudyptula.
First described in 1781 by German naturalist and Royal Society scientist Johann Forster, these tiny cuties breed on the coastal mainland and islands of New Zealand and southern Australia.
Blue penguins only come ashore under cover of darkness and can travel around 15-75 km at sea each day since they spend up to 18 hours daily in the water.
Having an impressive 10,000 feathers, they are the only penguins who stand out from the typical black-and-whites, and, interestingly enough, even their eyes are blue.
Known for being extremely vocal, they also communicate with their body movements.
Perhaps also interesting to mention is that some blue penguins are protected by sheepdogs. Some decades ago on Middle Island, located in Stingray Bay, Australia, a local farmer recommended using Maremma sheepdogs to keep foxes from preying on the penguins during their breeding season.
Image credits: JJ Harrison
Image credits: Blue Penguins Pukekura
Probably many of you will agree with me that penguins are in general one of the cutest species in the entire world. The way they walk, the sounds they make and how they huddle together for warmth are just simply adorable. Does anyone remember that incredibly beautiful and funny video of a penguin chasing a butterfly (for those who didn't see it, you can watch it here)?
Yet irresistibly beautiful baby Pesto from Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium conquers them all. I can only imagine how amazing it would feel to hug such a fluff ball!
People on the internet couldn't get enough of this super cute giant baby penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium
