Gay Penguin couple adopt second egg

Gentoo penguins, Sphen and Magic.
After successfully hatching their first egg last year, a gay penguin couple in Sydney, Australia, have adopted another egg together.

The two male gentoo penguins, Sphen and Magic made the internet go crazy when in October 2018 they hatched their first chick, Sphengic. 

The ‘power couple’ penguins who reside at the Sea Life Aquarium in Sydney, won the world over with their love story. It all began when Sphen showed his love for Magic by gifting him with a “special stone,” which according to Sea Life, is “the equivalent to proposing in the love language of penguins”.

“They have the neatest and largest nest in the colony and when we noticed that another couple were struggling to incubate two eggs at the same time, we made the decision to foster the second egg to the power couple of the colony,“ says Tish Hannan, penguin supervisor.

“Baby Sphengic… had an excellent start to life under their care and while she’s still a bundle of energy and very loud, she’s matured nicely but still quite unsure as to what all the adults are doing this breeding season.

“Sphengic may or may not have a little brother or sister in a few weeks, we’re yet to confirm if the egg is fertile”.

Sphen and Magic’s story has become so iconic, that the two featured in an episode of the Netflix show Atypical.

When the show’s penguin-loving main character Sam, who has autism, is asked if he would have a problem with his sister dating a girl, he replies: “No, why? You’d be like Sphen and Magic, the two male gentoo penguins at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. They courted each other and built a nest.

“When a negligent heterosexual penguin pair left their egg exposed to the elements the aquarium staff gave it to Sphen and Magic. They have a baby now. It’s name is Sphengic. I think they could have done better with the name”.

Similarly, lesbian penguin parents hatched a penguin chick at London Sea Life Aquarium in September this year. The chick has been allowed to grow into an adult as genderless, which is normal in the wild until they mature.
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