TRANSCRIPT
He's been described as cute and fluffy.
Pesto, is a nine-month-old baby King penguin living in Melbourne's SeaLife Aquarium.
Crowds have been flocking to the aquarium to catch a glimpse of the second largest type of penguin in the world.
“"He is just so cute, and just like so kind-of fluffy and he looks, and he looks so cuddly."
Since hatching there earlier this year on the 31st of January, Pesto's gender was unknown to the world.
It is common not to know the gender of a penguin unless a DNA test is done.
But a gender reveal cake cutting ceremony in April unveiled the chocolatey-brown chick's gender to his billions of global fans.
With a diet of about 25 to 32 fish in a day, Pesto weighs 23.5 kilograms and is twice the height of his foster parents, Hudson and Tango.
Reports by the Australian government suggest that most adult king penguins are about 95 centimetres tall and weigh approximately 13.5 kilograms.
Jacinta Early is the Education Supervisor and Aquarist at the Aquarium.
She says Pesto weighed just under 200 grams at birth, which is the about the size of an avocado.
Every week, staff conduct their Weigh-in Wednesdays, where they check the weight of the penguins living in the aquarium.
It has been revealed that Pesto gained one kilogram, in just a week.
Ms Early tells SBS Pesto's size is a combination of his genes and the care he receives from his parents.
"I would say it's nature and nurture. So his biological father is Blake, who is our tallest penguin here at Sea Life. But Blake has been an incredible dad. He's quite old now, he is 22-years-old and we thought give him a little bit of a break this year. And we gave his egg over to Tango and Hudson who are his foster parents. And Tango and Hudson unfortunately weren't successful with their eggs this year so that's why they got Pesto's egg. Now they are showing they are incredible parents because he wouldn't have gotten this big and be this healthy and beautiful if it wasn't for the love and adoration of Tango and Hudson. So being cared for really well by his foster parents is one factor. The height is purely biological."]]
She talks about Pesto's favourite things to do.
"Usually bugging his dad for more snacks. So he does these cute little whistle tones. And he does follow his dad around a lot. He is definitely obsessed with dad more than mum. During the day the keepers come in around 7.30 in the morning, he kind of gets woken up out of his creche and gets to kind of exploring the full exhibit and we do a full clean down to make sure he doesn't get damp while they are cleaning. And then it's a feed. And then another feed. And then another feed. So we feed our penguins eight times, give or take a day. Pesto easily gets at least four feeds a day. And he eats anywhere from 25 to 32 fish in a day as well. So a lot of that is feeding and napping. Much like most toddlers do anyway. Sometimes we do some activities with him, we actually just blew some bubbles before, so he gets to pop some bubbles as well."
Ms Early says his favourite treat - much like other king penguins at SeaLife - is usually rainbow trout.
She says rainbow trout is like the equivalent of penguin chocolate cake, and that Pesto does love a bit of salmon as well.
Naming their King Penguins after food is not uncommon at SeaLife.
The aquarium previously had penguins named Honey, Sausage, Beans and Pudding.
Ms Early says Pesto followed along with that theme.
SBS spoke to some of Pesto's fans at the aquarium to find out why they were there.
"He is - a unit - so cute. I just want to give him a cuddle. Like he's just fluff. He's just - he's abnormally large and I think he creates such an attraction to be honest. And also with our friend working here it was kind of a - you can see a kind of cute, obese penguin. And also see our friend."
Some are describing Pesto's personality as cool.
I'm looking at him like pressed up against the glass. He's just like, his fluff against the glass was so cute. He's just got such a personality already. He knows he is cool - yeah - he's what everyone is here for. And he knows it. But he is not egotistical. No. He is grounded, he knows who he is, and he knows why he's here.”]
Jacinta Early talks about the viral reaction to Pesto.
"((It's)) actually unlike anything we have ever seen. And I have spoken to staff who have been here since we opened. We have never really experienced this kind of hype level of an animal. We have moments where we have got like a cute little baby something, or a new species in or some other cool kind of thing that is happening. But there has been nothing to really this level, to be honest."
She says Pesto doesn't really care about guests that are there to see him unless theyare doing something that they are not supposed to like knocking on the window.
Ms Early says they hope anyone that comes to visit Pesto loves and respects him as much as the staff there do.
They have no concerns about his life expectancy with his size.
King Penguins generally gain quite a lot of weight in their first months in their life - which is important for their survival.
"He will actually lose all this weight pretty shortly as well. So when he does go through his fledging, lose all that cute little brown fluff and then he will get that sleek coat that you see like King Penguins are currently rocking at the moment. And he will drop that weight naturally. So we are actually not concerned. Lifespans for King Penguins can be anywhere from 10 to 20 years - currently we do have a penguin that is 22. And we do know of one that lived in captivity for up to 42. So they don't have any predators here, they don't have to fight for food. They are not getting vet checks, and they get love and adoration around the clock so we are not concerned about their health and well-being at this stage at all."
For visitors looking to visit Pesto in the next few weeks, Ms Early says you may start to notice that Pesto will be shedding some of his brown feathers.
