Pesto the Baby Penguin Goes Viral as 9-Month-Old Eats 25 Fish a Day

Jordan Greene
·2-min read

The furry baby King Penguin weighs 46 pounds

<p>SEA LIFE Melbourne/Instagram</p> Pesto the Prenguin

SEA LIFE Melbourne/Instagram

Pesto the Prenguin

A sea animal from Australia is capturing the hearts of the Internet: meet Pesto the penguin!

The furry baby King Penguin is only 9 months old and already weighs 46 pounds. According to the SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium's website, he is the largest chick the marine exhibit has ever seen and has a big appetite, eating around 25 fish per day. The aquarium attributes Pesto's size to his biological dad, Blake, the biggest and oldest penguin at the aquarium.

"So, the combination of good genes and good parents explains his current weight, but he will lose a lot of this when he fledges (develops his adult feathers)," the website reads.

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A post shared by 🐧SEA LIFE Melbourne🦈 (@sealifemelbourneaquarium)

Related: Baby Pygmy Hippo Moo Deng Doubles a Thailand Zoo's Visitors and Prompts Safety Warnings

On Sept, 9, the SEA LIFE Melbourne revealed Pesto's sex in an update about the creature's milestones.

In an interview with 10 News First Australia, an employee of the aquarium explained how you can't necessarily tell a penguin's sex just by looking at them; caretakers needed to send away a tiny sample of blood to a laboratory.

For the sex reveal, the aquarium got a chocolate cake covered in white icing and a penguin topper. Staff posted a video on TikTok of the team cutting into the cake and blue frosting appearing. Since posting, the video has racked up more than 220,000 views.

"Pesto! You bring the world so much love and joy! Thank you for existing! Love and celebrations from Denmark ❤🥰," one TikTok user commented on the aquarium's video.

"pesto merch would be amazing! I would buy it in a heartbeat!," another comment read.

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According to the aquarium, Pesto has a huge audience from all around the world. One TikTok user's video of a visit to see the chick already has 2 million views and 4,000 comments. In the TikTok, Pesto waddles around alongside a group of penguins.

"pesto is perfect," one person commented.

"Not to be dramatic, I would die for pesto," another person wrote.

<p>SEA LIFE Melbourne/Instagram</p> Pesto the Penguin and SEA LIFE Melbourne employee

SEA LIFE Melbourne/Instagram

Pesto the Penguin and SEA LIFE Melbourne employee

A different TikTok from another visitor at the aquarium in August captures the 9-month-old sea animal standing in a snowy spot flanked by two other penguins. "pesto has been bulking big time," the user captioned the video, which amassed more than 3,100 comments.

"i went a month ago and he’s just grown bigger 😧," one comment said.

"my husband says "that penguin is destined to be king," someone else replied.

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