Pesto, the king penguin chick, right, mingles in his enclosure at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium on Friday.
Rod McGuirk/AP
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Rod McGuirk/AP
Baby Penguin Pesto is huge – both online and literally.
The nine-month-old king penguin, who lives at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, weighs about 46 pounds.
That’s huge even by seabird standards. king penguins, the second largest species penguin, usually weigh 20 to 30 pounds when fully grown.
“He’s officially the biggest babe SEA LIFE Melbourne has ever seen, making him a huge hit with guests and fans around the world,” says the aquarium.
That’s attributed to his “hearty appetite” of 25 fish a day, as well as good genes and parenting: His biological father, Blake, is the largest and oldest penguin in the aquarium (and also “a bit of a ladies man“).
Pesto also has the distinct honor of being the only king penguin chick hatched in this particular aquarium in all of 2024, after none were born last year.
Jacinta Earley, the Aquarium’s Head of Education, told the Associated Press on Friday that Pesto had eaten 53 pounds of fish — more than his own body weight — in the past week alone.
As Pesto grew in size, so did its online fan base.
He was first featured in April, but his following exploded earlier this month after the aquarium revealed his gender, officially certifying his status as a big boy.
As the aquarium explained in videos on social mediathe sex of the king penguin cannot be determined by sight alone. Instead, staff had to send a blood sample to a lab for testing.
“It was done a few weeks ago and we’re finally back to say it’s a boy,” says a voice-over in a video of the celebration, in which staff members can be seen cheering as someone cuts a cake with underwater theme filled with blue icing.
Viewers showed their love in the comments, praising Pesto’s “ultimate male performance,” crowning him the “fluffy king” and begging him to get an account or his own live stream.
The pesto also went viral TikToks posted of aquarium visitors that have accumulated millions of views in recent weeks.
Whether he’s frolicking around or just standing in his enclosure, Pesto’s rotund figure and fluffy brown feathers set him apart from other penguins with their black feathers and more elegant physiques.
Michaela Smale, Senior Keeper at the Aquarium, told 9News that pesto has reached more than 1.9 billion people worldwide.
“We’ve seen an increase in social traffic, web traffic and, of course, visits,” she added.
The aquarium even posted on TikTok this week a Pesto song to a Katy Perry song, urging the singer to visit their VIP (very important penguin) in person.
King penguin chicks shed their fluffy brown down in favor of sleek black, white and orange feathers at about 10-12 months, which is just around the corner for pesto.
The aquarium says it’s him you are likely to lose weight — probably closer to 33 pounds — after it grows its adult coat.
But he will always be a star.
