Sphen, Australian penguin of famous same-sex couple, dies at age 11

Sphen, a gentoo penguin who gained worldwide fame through his long-term same-sex relationship with another male, died earlier this month at the age of 11 in Sydney, Australia.

Sphen and his partner of nine years, Magic, became “international queer icons” after they joined forces and began building a nest together at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in 2018, writes the New York Times“Isabella Kwai. The pair successfully hatched two chicks after keepers gave them foster eggs to hatch.

Their relationship was featured in the Netflix series “Atypical,” and large, inflatable replicas of both fathers appeared on a float at the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. (The real birds couldn't go because temperatures were too high.) Their story has been included in Australian school textbooks to teach children about sexuality, consent and relationships.

“The love story of Sphen and Magic captivated the world,” said Richard Dilly, the aquarium's general manager, in a statement to Rod McGuirk of the Associated Press. “Sphen and Magic had a bond unlike most other penguin pairs – they could even be found together outside of the breeding season, which is unique for gentoo penguins.”

Shortly before his 12th birthday, Sphen's health began to deteriorate. The aquarium euthanized Sphen to spare him discomfort and pain. After Sphen's death, the keepers brought Magic to his body so that he would understand that his companion would not be coming back.

When Magic saw Sphen's body, he immediately began to sing. Other members of the gentoo penguin colony quickly joined him, giving him a “beautiful send-off,” Renee Howell, a penguin keeper at the aquarium, told the Guardian's Emily Wind.

“The air was just filled with their singing,” adds Howell.

Now keepers will turn their attention to Magic as he prepares for his first breeding season without his mate.

“We will keep an eye on Magic, since he is new, it is difficult to say how he will cope,” Rachel Anker, a spokeswoman for the aquarium, told the Washington PostBy Rachel Pannett.

The relationship between Sphen and Magic began in the summer of 2018. Sphen was transferred from SeaWorld to Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, while Magic came from Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium.

When the two dapper birds first crossed paths, it was basically love at first sight. Their introduction followed the same predictable pattern as gentoo penguin-male partnerships. First, they bowed to each other. Then, they brought each other pebbles – and admired their gifts. From then on, they stood close together and sang together. Neither bird showed any interest in other members of the colony.

It was perfectly clear to the keepers what was going on: Sphen and Magic had chosen each other. The penguins soon began collecting pebbles and stones to build a nest.

Sphen and Magic were talented architects: they built the largest nest in the entire colony. While the other young penguins were frolicking around, Sphen and Magic sat obediently on their nest and prepared to lay an egg.

The keepers decided to give them a fake egg to make them feel like they were participating in the breeding season. The two fathers did so well that the keepers gave them a real egg from a male-female pair that had been neglecting their nest. Sphen and Magic officially became parents with the birth of their first foster chick, Lara (formerly called Sphengic). That year, Lara was the only chick to hatch from all the eggs in the entire colony.

Sphen and Magic dutifully raised Lara, feeding, protecting and singing to her. In 2020, they received another foster egg and successfully hatched a chick named Clancy.

In the wild, gentoo penguins have an average life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. They live on the Antarctic Peninsula and on islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Their plumage resembles that of a tuxedo: white feathers on the chest and belly and black feathers on the back, head and neck. Their beaks and feet are bright orange and they have a small white patch of feathers above each eye.

Gentoo penguins are typically about 75 cm tall and weigh 5.5 kg, making them the third largest penguin species. They are fast swimmers, gliding through the water to escape predators or search for food such as krill, small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.

In spring (October and November) in the Southern Hemisphere, penguins seek out dry patches of ground and begin building nests out of small stones and feathers, creating huge colonies of gentoo penguins. Each monogamous breeding pair typically lays two eggs, which the parents take turns keeping warm for just over a month. When the chicks hatch, they are covered in downy gray feathers.

Same-sex partnerships are not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Elmer and Lima, two male Humboldt penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, became a couple in 2021 and gave birth to their first foster chick in early 2022. In January 2022, photographers captured images of two male humpback whales mating off the coast of Maui.

Scientists have found evidence of same-sex sexuality in more than 1,500 species—a number that likely underestimates the prevalence of this behavior because researchers do not often specifically look for it.