Passionate penguins have Moody romance
“Somehow they manage to do it without us knowing,” Olsen says. “We rarely catch them doing it.”
Usually her biologists know when a coupling has taken place after the eggs appear, like the two gentoo and two king penguin eggs.
“Everything is instinctual — the courtship, the act,” Olsen says. “It’s embedded into them, when to breed and how. We think it’s linked to the light cycle. There’s a pineal gland between their eyes that determines light intensity.”
In other words, mood lighting. Longer days and shorter nights apparently are an aphrodisiac for penguins.
Sunshine aplenty
“Look! The gentoos are doing it,” Olsen squeals as a male climbs on a female’s back. “It’s a real quickie, too. I think he can’t balance too long on her back.”
Olsen explains that a penguin’s penis and testes are similar to a human’s. At least, that’s what she’s been told.
“It’s internal, so I’ve never seen it,” she says. “The testes are inside to keep them warm. Men have them outside to keep them cool.”
Penguins — all 17 species — live south of the equator. For many, October is the start of the mating season. While we’re heading into winter, it’s springtime for the birds.
“It’s breeding time,” Olsen says. “Penguins don’t have sex unless to breed. Dolphins will do it to do it. Monkeys and humans will do it to do it, but not penguins.”
The exhibit’s computer-operated light system mimics the light cycle of Antarctic and subantarctic islands where the penguins at Moody Gardens originate.
“Right now, the lights are on for 18 hours,” Olsen says. “In December, you’ll have 22 hours of daylight.”
During this time, food is plentiful, and so is affection. But female penguins are not easy. It takes wooing — and gifts.