9 facts about penguins, exhibit

SeaWorld Orlando guests have a chance to learn more about penguins as well as take a look at how the theme park cares for these birds during the Penguins Up-Close Tour.

Here are some interesting tidbits about penguins and their exhibit at SeaWorld, courtesy of Kim Gooch, an instructor in SeaWorld’s animal programs department, and Mike Bartlett, a supervisor of zoological at Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin and aviculturist.

SeaWorld Orlando has six species of penguins at the theme park. There are five species of penguin at Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin: king, gentoo, Adélie, chinstrap and rockhopper. The sixth species, Magellanic penguins, resides in the Avian Research building because the Antarctica habitat is too cold for them. They can only been seen on the Behind-the-Scenes UpClose Tour.

There are about 280 penguins in the Antarctica habitat.

Penguin breeding at SeaWorld takes place October through spring.

During mating season, the penguins at SeaWorld pair off on their own by species.

If a mating pair that is too closely related lays an egg, SeaWorld employees will replace it with a dummy egg. Gooch said if an egg is taken away, something must be swapped in its place because the female will continue to lay eggs if it keeps disappearing, which can cause strain on the penguin. After a while, when the egg doesn’t hatch, the pair will eventually leave the egg behind.

Ten rockhopper chicks were born during the last mating season.

Some penguins in the Antarctica habitat have served as foster parents.

SeaWorld identifies each penguin by zip tie bands. The zip tie color denotes the gender: white for a female and black for a male. The leftmost color on the band identifies the species, and the remaining colors represent a number from zero to nine. SeaWorld secure the bands to both arms in case one falls off.

Since penguins are susceptible to diseases, air in the exhibit is turned over every 2.6 minutes to keep germs at bay.