Meet the aquarium’s Beakhams family
WHO rules the roost in the penguin exhibit? It is certainly rockhopper penguin power couple Roxy and Grommet, with their two daughters Clax and Miss Harold Custard and young son Chippy-Goodwill. Of course these penguins don’t have a surname, but if they did, we are sure it would be “Beakhams”.
Dad: Grommet
Dad Grommet was rescued at Kleinbaai, near Hermanus, in February 2000. After being rehabilitated at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) for a few months, he was taken to his new home – the Two Oceans Aquarium.
Grommet is the dominant rockhopper penguin on the beach – he’s loud and proud. Grommet is known to be fiercely protective of Roxy. He is also the best nest-maker among all the penguins. Because he is a rescued penguin, his age is not certain, but he is estimate to be about 25 years old.
Mom: Roxy
Mom Roxy arrived at the aquarium in 2003, another rescued bird handed over by Sanccob. Roxy was found tangled in fishing wire, and as a result has a notch near the tip of her left flipper. Like Grommet, Roxy is estimated to be about 25 years old. She is very graceful, and is always eager Clax to follow Grommet around the beach, except when she has a chance to sunbathe.
Daughter: Clax
Clax was the first rockhopper chick to hatch at the aquarium. She hatched on October 7, 2014 – coincidentally at the same time as the huge new window was being installed in what was to become the I&J Ocean Exhibit. Because of this coincidence she was named Clax – after Clax Italia, the company that made the giant window.
She is a feisty penguin. She likes to “human watch”, always picking a spot on the beach that gives her the best view of the public. She shows her excitement at feeding time by fluffing up her feathers. She tries very hard to emulate her father, Grommet.
Middle child: Miss Harold Custard
After the Clax experience, Two Oceans made sure the experts at Sanccob would be on standby to help handle Roxy and Grommet’s next chick. After being incubated by her parents, Miss Harold Custard’s egg was handed over to the Sanccob chick rearing unit, where she took her first breath outside her egg on September 23, 2016.
When she was younger she went through a phase where she tried to mimic Rita the African oystercatcher by standing on one leg.
Little brother: Chippy-Goodwill
Chippy-Goodwill is the newest addition to the penguin family – and is in an endless tug-of-war with Custard to see who can steal the limelight. They often get into synchronised braying contests to see who can make the most noise – a contest Custard usually wins, as Chippy doesn’t have his adult voice yet. This battle for attention goes even further – Chippy likes rock climbing more than his sister, and has chosen the highest point on the beach to be “his spot”. – Issued by Two Oceans Aquarium