Same-sex penguin couple become parents to chick after adopting egg

‘Welcome to the world little one!’ aquarium writes on Facebook post

A same-sex penguin couple have become parents to a chick after adopting an egg.

Electra and Viola, both female penguins, hatched another penguin couple’s egg at the Oceanogràfic aquarium in Valencia, Spain.

In a blog post shared on the Oceanogràfic website, it explains that caregivers at the aquarium noticed that Electra and Viola had begun acting in a way commonly associated with penguins that are preparing to reproduce, such as by building a nest out of stones.

The aquarium workers therefore decided to take a fertile egg from another couple for Electra and Viola to adopt, resulting in the same-sex penguin couple incubating the egg themselves.

This marks the first time a same-sex penguin couple have become parents to an adopted egg at Oceanogràfic, the aquarium added.

The chick is one of three to have been born among the colony of 25 Gentoo penguins as of late.

In addition to Electra and Viola, the two other penguin couples to have welcomed newly-hatched chicks in the colony are Navi and Aquela and Bolo and Melibea.

Oceanogràfic shared several photographs of Electra and Viola with their chick on social media.

In one of the pictures, the couple are rubbing their necks against one another, while in another image the chick can be seen poking its head out while nestling underneath one of its parents.

Several people commented underneath the aquarium’s Facebook post, one of which wrote: “Bienvenido al mundo!”, meaning “Welcome to the world!”.

“Efectivamente el amor no tiene barreras..... q gran ejemplo,” someone else said, translated to mean: “Indeed love has no barriers..... what a great example.”

In July 2019, a same-sex penguin couple at Sea Life London welcomed their first adopted chick, also from the Gentoo species.

The female penguin couple, Marama and Rocky, had been together for five years when they were chosen to adopt an egg by the aquarium’s team, after demonstrating that they would make good parents.

The aquarium explained that the egg was taken from its birth mother to help relieve the pressure of raising two chicks.

“Marama and Rocky have taken to becoming parents like ducks to water – or should I say penguins,” said Graham McGrath, general manager at Sea Life.

“Caring for a newborn is tough for anyone, from the sleepless nights to the constant feeding, yet this wonderful pair of penguin parents are completely unflappable and seem to be taking it all in their stride.”