Passionate penguins have Moody romance
Biologists call the hanky-panky in the Aquarium at Moody Gardens “penguins gone wild".
“It’s penguin love, and it’s happening here,” assistant curator Diane Olsen says. “It looks like we might get a few more eggs soon.”
The loving started the afternoon before Hurricane Rita touched land. A few days later, the amorous pair of gentoo penguins became expectant parents. Their two eggs are expected to hatch around Halloween.
The mood seems to be contagious. Other gentoos, kings and rockhoppers have gotten into the act.
“You see his head? It’s elevated. That’s courtship behavior,” observes Olsen, pointing to a king penguin.
Penguin keepers call this “The Strut.”
“I’m so sexy for my feathers, so sexy for my feathers,” Olsen sings as three male king penguins parade in front of a female. Guys often compete for affection.
Neck stretched, beak raised, downy chest puffed out, they do their best to look taller, more handsome.
“It’s breeding central in there,” Olsen says. “Everybody is going crazy.”
A virtual lovefest — one that Olsen is witnessing for the first time. While she has studied their mating habits since the Aquarium opened in 1999, the 42-year-old penguin expert has never seen a couple do “the deed.”
Penguin research is costly and nesting sites are difficult to reach in the wild, so in the annals of animal husbandry, penguin sex remains a bit of a mystery.