Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego on Tuesday celebrated the milestone of its first Little Blue Penguin being raised and reared by its parents at the facility's habitat.
"Every breeding season, our team carefully evaluates individual penguin pairs for raising their own chicks," said Kayla Strate, the Birch's assistant curator of birds. "We weigh various factors such as past incubation history, nest location and colony behavior while also recording observations daily so we can make smart management decisions."
This season, a new, young pair partnered up, resulting in the female laying a clutch of two eggs, aquarium leaders said.
"Since this pair showed strong promise, our team decided to have them incubate and rear one of the eggs. They ended up being very successful," Strate said. "It's been a delight to watch them care for and protect their chick under our team's watchful eyes."
According to the aquarium, the chicks learn important life skills, including how to eat, socialize and swim during their first few months. Around the three-month mark, each chick joined the rest of the colony.
The aquarium's penguin colony includes individuals from five different zoos and aquariums.
The Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins habitat brought the world's smallest penguins to the West Coast for the first time. It was also the first seabird exhibit in the history of the aquarium. The 2,900-square-foot exhibit allows people to come face-to-face with the adorable animals as they "waddle, swim and glide about their new home," according to the aquarium.
The habitat features an 18,000-gallon lagoon, cozy burrows, a sandy beach and native plants that mimic the coasts of New Zealand and Australia, which the species call home.
The penguins measure under a foot tall, weigh between 2 and 3 pounds when full-grown and are known for their slate-blue plumage, giving them their common name.
The exhibit also includes a small amphitheater for guests to observe birds swimming, and a "discovery cave" for children to closely observe the penguins on land and inside nesting burrows.
