 Pesto in September 2024, prior to molting | |
| Species | King penguin |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Hatched | 30 January 2024 [1] Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Melbourne, Australia |
| Weight | 22.5 kg (50 lb; 3 st 8 lb) |
Pesto (hatched 30 January 2024) is a king penguin chick living in Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium who gained notability in September 2024 due to his exceptionally large size during his infancy.
Pesto was hatched 30 January 2024 at the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, [1] and weighed 200 grams (7.1 oz) at birth. [2] His biological father is Blake, another king penguin living at the aquarium, [3] [4] although keepers opted to have two younger penguins, Tango and Hudson, raise Pesto as foster parents. [5] This decision was made in part due to Blake's age (22 years), and Tango and Hudson's lack of success in hatching their own eggs. [6] Pesto was the first king penguin chick to be hatched at the aquarium since 2022. [7] Pesto was first put on display at the aquarium in April 2024. [8]
At the time of his gender reveal in September 2024, which was broadcast on social media, [5] he weighed 21 kilograms (46 lb), [9] making him the largest king penguin chick to ever live at the aquarium. [3] By that month, he was eating about 25 fish per day and 24 kilograms (53 lb) of fish per week, a healthy quantity for adolescent penguins. [7] [8] As of 23 September 2024 [update] , Pesto was reported to be 90 centimetres (35 in) tall and weigh 22.5 kilograms (50 lb); adult king penguins typically weigh between 9.5 kilograms (21 lb) and 18 kilograms (40 lb). [5] [7] Despite being a chick, he weighs more than his parents Hudson and Tango combined, although he is expected to lose weight after molting. [2] According to his keepers, he is expected to weigh around 15 kilograms (33 lb) as an adult. [7] Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium partly attributed his large size to genetics, as his biological father Blake is the largest penguin at the aquarium, and partly to care by his foster parents. [4]
In late October 2024, Pesto began to molt, losing his baby feathers and growing adult feathers. His lower body and wings started molting first, with white adult feathers emerging on the lower body, while his upper body still retained brown feathers. [10] Although king penguins usually molt at ten to twelve months old, Pesto began molting at around nine months old. The amount of food available to him has been suggested as an explanation for his early molting. The molt is expected to last three or four weeks, ending in late November. [11]
Pesto has received extensive attention online, becoming an Internet meme on TikTok due to his large size. [12] He has affectionately been described by fans as a "fatty", an "absolute unit", and a "linebacker". [2] While visiting Melbourne for the 2024 AFL Grand Final, American singer Katy Perry stated that she wanted to kiss Pesto. [13] She met with the penguin on 27 September, although she did not kiss him due to biosecurity measures. [14] Pesto was similarly visited by American singer Olivia Rodrigo on 11 October during her Guts World Tour. [15]
On 9 October, a mural depicting Pesto surrounded by four much smaller adult penguins was unveiled in the Melbourne central business district. Painted by local artist Lukas Kasper, the mural was commissioned by the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. [16]
The little penguin is the smallest species of penguin. It originates from New Zealand. It is commonly known as the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, owing to its slate-blue plumage and is also known by its Māori name kororā. It is a fossorial bird.
Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.
The Adélie penguin is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor penguin, is the most southerly distributed of all penguins. It is named after Adélie Land, in turn, named for Adèle Dumont d'Urville, who was married to French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who first discovered this penguin in 1840. Adélie penguins obtain their food by both predation and foraging, with a diet of mainly krill and fish.
The greater flamingo is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, the Levant, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe.
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The chinstrap penguin is a species of penguin that inhabits a variety of islands and shores in the Southern Pacific and the Antarctic Oceans. Its name stems from the narrow black band under its head, which makes it appear as if it were wearing a black helmet, making it easy to identify. Other common names include ringed penguin, bearded penguin, and stonecracker penguin, due to its loud, harsh call.
The gentoo penguin is a penguin species in the genus Pygoscelis, most closely related to the Adélie penguin and the chinstrap penguin. The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud trumpeting, which the bird emits with its head thrown back.
The emperor goose, also known as the beach goose or the painted goose, is a waterfowl species in the family Anatidae, which contains the ducks, geese, and swans. In summer, the emperor goose is found in remote coastal areas near the Bering Sea in arctic and sub-arctic Alaska and the Russian Far East, where it breeds in monogamous pairs. It migrates south to winter in ice-free mudflats and coasts in Alaska, mostly the Aleutian Islands, and Canada's British Columbia, rarely reaching the contiguous United States. Listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the species' population is declining due to threats such as pollution, hunting, and climate change.
James's flamingo, also known as the puna flamingo, is a species of flamingo that lives at high altitudes in the Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina.
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The macaroni penguin is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the royal penguin, and some authorities consider the two to be a single species. It bears a distinctive yellow crest on its forehead. Its face and upperparts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts. Adults weigh on average 5.5 kg (12 lb) and are 70 cm (28 in) in length. The male and female are similar in appearance; the male is slightly larger and stronger with a relatively larger bill. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine lifestyle.
The Magellanic penguin is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen as far north as Espírito Santo. Vagrants have been found in El Salvador, the Avian Island in Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus banded penguins. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Humboldt penguin, and the Galápagos penguins. The Magellanic penguin was named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. The species is listed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN.
The Fiordland penguin, also known as the Fiordlandcrested penguin, is a crested penguin species endemic to New Zealand. It currently breeds along the south-western coasts of New Zealand's South Island as well as on Stewart Island/Rakiura and its outlying islands. Because it originally ranged beyond Fiordland, it is sometimes referred to as the New Zealand crested penguin. It is occasionally found in Australia.
The royal penguin is a species of penguin, which can be found only on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and adjacent islands. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the royal penguin as Least Concern. The scientific name commemorates the German zoologist Hermann Schlegel.
The Japanese spider crab is a species of marine crab and is the biggest one that lives in the waters around Japan. At around 3.7 meters, it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this species is taka-ashi-gani,, literally translating to “tall legs crab”. It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to grow to its great size.
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a Southern Ocean and Antarctic aquarium in central Melbourne, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Yarra River beside and under the Flinders Street Viaduct and the King Street Bridge. The attraction is a Sea Life Centre owned by Merlin Entertainments.
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The eastern rockhopper penguin, also known as the tawaki piki toka, is a crested penguin with yellow crest feathers. It is a subspecies of the southern rockhopper penguin found in subantarctic regions and the Indian Ocean. It is one of the smallest crested penguins and has distinctive pink margins around its bill.
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Media related to Pesto (penguin) at Wikimedia Commons