Penguin baby boom continues at the Tennessee Aquarium

Penguin parents Blue and Flower welcomed a second Gentoo penguin chick, contributing to what the Tennessee Aquarium is calling a summertime penguin baby boom.

The chick hatched July 17, a few weeks after the birth of another penguin, the aquarium said, to parents Nipper and Pebbles, also the pair’s second child.

Aquarium officials said in a press release Wednesday the newest chick is doing well and growing at the expected rate but that there have been some challenges along the way.

“We don’t know exactly why, but it seemed to have a hard time holding up its head and getting far enough into mom and dad’s mouth to feed,” Loribeth Lee, assistant curator of forests, said in a birth announcement from the aquarium. “Without intervention, the chick would not have made it.”

Blue and Flower’s baby grew to a healthy 6 pounds in just one month. It weighed 3.5 ounces a day after hatching, the aquarium said.

“It feels really good to see the chick doing so well thanks to our efforts,” Lee said.

Nipper and Pebbles’ second chick was born on Thursday, June 25, the aquarium said in a press release at the time and was described as “noticeably more easygoing than past penguin babies.”

“This chick has actually ended up being pretty chill,” Holly Gibson, senior animal care specialist, said of the chick in a statement. “It’s very sweet. It doesn’t really fuss when we pick it up to clean the nest, to take its weight or to give it a checkup.”

Neither chick has yet been named. The Tennessee Aquarium said it plans to hold a fundraiser in September at which naming rights will be auctioned.

The new penguin babies will join the colony after passing a swim test, which occurs when the chicks turn about 70 days old. To pass, the chicks must be able to float and exit the water without assistance.

Blue and Flower hatched their first Gentoo chick, named Carla, in 2021, the aquarium said.