Not since the Beatles landed in America has the arrival of four young males made such an impression on the public! We may be exaggerating (a bit…) but excitement was certainly in the air during our official gender reveal this Mother’s Day weekend.
The crew!
Since there is no visible difference between male and female African penguins, at Adventure Aquarium, gender is determined by a DNA test when the penguin has reached certain minimums for age and weight.
So during special ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday, biologists revealed the genders of 6-month old siblings Pumpkin and Patch, and 4-month old siblings Saba and Cornelius. As the biologists read the penguins’ names (two at a time), they marched out wearing special, blue penguin armbands to prove their gender, and wouldn’t you know it, but 1…2…3…4, they were all boys! Our very own ‘fab four.’
Patch shows off his special blue armband for this weekend’s festivities
Starting tomorrow, visitors have the chance to stop by and say ‘hi’ to the four little guys at Penguin Island as they are officially on exhibit. Check out a daily penguin feed (daily 11:15, with an extra show at 3:45 on the weekends) or better yet – spend some time watching them swim, which young penguins love to do! You will be able to tell them apart from the other penguins because they’re a dark bluish grey and white in color, instead of the traditional black and white.
