this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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I got to feed endangered African penguins once at an aviary! They just swallow whole fish (whether in the water or tossed to them though the air), no need for prep or plating.
Fun fact, they secrete all that fish oil right onto their feathers (it helps them glide though the water), but that makes them little stink monsters! Seriously, penguins smell rather terrible haha.
i grew up near Marine World Africa USA before it got bought out by six flags. It was the Standard Second Grade Field Trip out here to go to Marine World and go see the animals and ride the teacups that i swear disneyland ripped off and made better (yes i made this part of the story up when i was in second grade shut up). But the park was not opened up for the summer yet and all us little shits got to run around. And at 2pm they had a penguin feeding and I told my teacher I loved the pengies at the Portland Oregon zoo, so we went to see the pengies and get a special lesson from the pengie trainer. I don't remember most of it but i got to throw a fish at not to (let's be honest i still throw like an uncoordinated 6 year old who should have been drummed off his tee ball team) the penguins.
It was neat
first song i ever wrote that was good was about one of their elephant trainers, who was a good friend, but that's another story
That must have been really fun! The Toronto zoo has an awards plaque for “Nice Penguin of the Month” and “Naughty Penguin of the Month” which leads me to believe that they must be characters
Oh most definitely, this species at least was full of personality. They were very well cared-for so they were little divas and had all kinds of interesting relationships with one another (the caretaker told it like a soap opera).
They would also ignore the fish we tossed that they didn't prefer and wait for their favorite. So the caretaker had to go around and pick up the extra fish when food time was over lol
Added fun facts: they have teeth in their throats to haul the fish down, and the fish oil secretions are stored in a gland near their tails!
Weird that they keep flightless birds in aviary, but penguins are my spirit animal so I'm jealous.
Wow, that's... kind of disgustingly intriguing of evolution...