A fluffy, impossibly cute addition to the Tennessee Aquarium’s penguin colony has waddled into view just in time for Fourth of July weekend.
The adorable — and currently unnamed — Gentoo Penguin hatched on May 29 from an egg laid in April to first-time parents Bigfoot (dad) and Carla (mom).
The chick marks the third generation of this family line to the Penguins’ Rock gallery. Bigfoot hatched at the Aquarium in 2017 to parents Bug and Big T. Carla is the facility’s most-recent Gentoo and hatched in 2021 to parents Flower and Blue.
“The chick is very vocal,” says Assistant Curator of Forests Loribeth Lee. “There’s a lot of noise, and it’s not hesitant to yell and scream and try to slap with its flippers.”
The chick’s gender won’t be known until the results of a blood test in November as part of the colony’s annual checkup. When it hatched, the chick weighed just 91 grams, which is about 3 ounces (about the same as a candy bar). By the colony’s annual checkup, it will look almost indistinguishable from an adult, however. Its fluffy, gray coat of down will be replaced by waterproof feathers, and it will weigh more than 7 pounds. That represents a 3,500% increase in body weight in just five months.
Guests can see the newest addition to Penguins’ Rock in the gallery’s rightmost nest.
The arrival of a new chick is always a noteworthy event, but visitors to the Aquarium in July will find even more to be excited about, including a host of new and refreshed exhibits as well as additions to the daily programming schedule.
In the River Journey building, guests can visit a grand master of hide-and-seek in an all-new addition to the Rivers of the World gallery. African Shell-dweller Cichlids use empty shells of giant freshwater snails to hide from predators and shelter their young. These two-inch fish flit in and out of their homes to defend their territory but will dart inside to seek safety when startled.
A pair of long-time residents of Rivers of the World also are enjoying newly remodeled habitats to better showcase their remarkable behaviors and appearance.
Attempting to count the expertly camouflaged Vietnamese Mossy Frogs has been a long-time favorite Aquarium pastime for guests exploring Rivers of the World. Now, the Aquarium’s army of these bumpy-skinned amphibians has been relocated into a new, larger habitat mimicking their home in the lush rainforests of Southeast Asia.
With their slender, legless bodies, caecilians are sometimes confused for snakes, eels or even leeches, but they’re actually an oft-overlooked cousin to salamanders and frogs. Guests now will have an even easier time enjoying and being mystified by this least-well-known order of amphibians courtesy of a newly refreshed display of Aquatic Caecilians in Rivers of the World.
To cap off a July visit, daily scheduled gallery programs have returned to the Tennessee Aquarium. Among other activities, guests can hear volunteer SCUBA divers answer questions live from inside the colossal Secret Reef exhibit, observe penguin feedings or interact with an entomologist in the Butterfly Garden. A full daily program schedule is available at tnaqua.org/plan-a-visit/programs
Whether they’re longtime members or planning their first trip, guests can learn more about the Tennessee Aquarium and its residents by listening to The Podcast Aquatic. The Aquarium’s official podcast is sponsored by Tennessee Conservationist Magazine and is accessible at tnaqua.org/podcast/ or on all major podcast platforms.
Learn more ahead of a summer visit at tnaqua.org/summer/