SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium have shared the news that Sphen , one half of Sydney’s beloved and famous gay gentoo penguin couple, has sadly passed away. Sphen passed away shortly before his 12th birthday of natural causes. Staff brought his partner of six years Magic to go see him to help him process the loss and understand his partner wouldn’t return.
They said Magic immediately started singing, and the entire gentoo colony joined in. “It was a very beautiful moment, the air was just filled with their singing,” penguin keeper Renee Howell told The Guardian . “It showed the impact [Sphen] had on his partner and that [Magic] actually recognised that his partner was there.
“Soon after, he became quite protective of his partner and that was a very emotional time for us, but we needed to do that in order for him to hopefully comprehend what had happened.” Howell also said they weren’t sure what the singing meant and they’d never seen behaviour like it in gentoo penguins before – penguins will typically bow or sing to one another during courtship. But the keeper says it was such a beautiful moment, and there wasn’t a dry eye among the staff of the aquarium “In that moment for us, it was a beautiful send-off.
” The love story and legacy of Sphen and Magic Sphen and Magic’s love story rose to global fame in 2018 . It inspired a float in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras , and has been featured in the NSW education syllabus , Netflix series Atypical , and c.