In the wild, when a penguin dies and its partner isn’t aware of what has happened, it will normally begin a long search for its mate. It was because of this that keepers at Sydney Sea Life Aquarium made the (heartbreaking) decision, on Thursday morning, following the death of 11-year-old gentoo penguin Sphen, to show his body to partner Magic, so he could understand “his partner wouldn’t actually be returning”. To prevent his fruitless hunt.
What they hadn’t bargained on was that when Magic was shown Sphen’s little lifeless body – on average, these penguins weigh about 12 pounds and are 30 inches tall – that he would be so overcome with emotion that he would begin singing. And that the rest of the penguin colony in the enclosure would join in. “It was a very beautiful moment, the air was just filled with their singing,” said keeper Renee Howell , who has witnessed Magic and Sphen’s relationship develop since 2018.
“It showed the impact [Sphen] had on his partner...
we needed to do that in order for him to hopefully comprehend what had happened.” Magic and Sphen first shot to fame six years ago: staff at the aquarium noticed an attraction between them when they saw them bowing to each other – a gentoo way of flirting. Their romance went viral, and they were heralded as a “gay power couple” and symbol of equality.
They adopted and raised two chicks: Lara in 2018 and Clancy in 2020, and fans around the world were enamoured with tales of them taking.