Sydney Sea Life Aquarium’s first gay penguin couple is on their way to becoming parents and the duo’s egg-rearing saga is taking over Twitter.
Gay penguins Sphen and Magic, or “Sphengic” if you will, are a staple at the Sydney aquarium as the resident gay penguin couple. Granted, the two penguins aren’t capable of reproducing on their own, but that didn’t stop the two from grabbing ice pebbles and creating a nest for an egg.
At first, aquarium staff gave Magic and Sphen a fake egg to take care of so they could learn how to incubate together during this year’s breeding season. But the two gay penguins were so good at egg-rearing that staff decided to give them a real egg from a straight penguin duo who had an extra one to spare. That’s right, Sphen and Magic are on their way to becoming parents.
Oh, and don’t worry: Sphen and Magic are already performing their egg duties quite well. In fact, the two are so skilled at their jobs that there are days at a time where visitors can’t even see their egg, which news.com.au calls “good for penguin breeding.”
It didn’t take long for the news to hit Twitter and take over the site.
Sydney's Sea Life aquarium says it is a gay penguin couple, Sphen and Magic, and they are hatching an egg together
"The pair make a great team" pic.twitter.com/Qvbut1jZiU
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 11, 2018
Penguins giving each other special rocks is my favourite thing in nature, it's honestly just so pure and good
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 11, 2018
gay penguins hatching an egg together… life is good
— ♔ Viridiana✨ | mystery dungeon !! (@viribirb) October 12, 2018
#GayPenguins ‘having a baby’ is literally the cutest story of today. 🌈😍🤗🐧
— Miss Wobble 🏳️🌈 (@richie_rich77) October 12, 2018
GAY PENGUINS IS ALL IVE EVER NEEDED IN LIFE
— cloudie @ acnh hours (@fluffysmolcloud) October 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/smallestvalerie/status/1050706163736739840
I have an essay due in 12 hours but I’m on here reading about gay penguins sharing rocks to profess their love to one another pic.twitter.com/6aazuuLKTs
— mob rat (@alyzzabel) October 12, 2018
Everyone is falling in love with the gay penguin parents, despite the fact that their name is kind of weird.
The gay penguins thing at Sea Life Sydney absolutely rules but let's be honest the couple name Sphengic sounds like a horrid disease. pic.twitter.com/nNC9kHbJF5
— Mitch Feltscheer (@mitchfel) October 12, 2018
That.. that hurt man … 💔 pic.twitter.com/lGHojzmgN1
— Sea Life Sydney Aquarium (@Sydney_Aquarium) October 12, 2018
On the other hand, Twitter fears the gay penguins will become the next battlefield in the West’s ever-looming culture wars.
I really hope the gay penguins don't become a culture war issue
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 12, 2018
I give it 12 hours until one of them is milkshake ducked.
— big guy on campus? (@coolestdudeva) October 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/ViciousValkyrie/status/1050717070084726784
Honestly cannot wait until the alt right hears about the gay penguins in Sydney that is gonna be such a laugh
— Cole Deller (@TheCDMole) October 12, 2018
Turns out they were right.
https://twitter.com/jmstrv/status/1048859019601801216
Gay penguins? These people will artificially make these penguins believe they're gay just to push this motion.
Smh— Ehimen (@eDante_) October 12, 2018
Are they really gay? Or is this something #penguins do in the absence of females to ensure species survival?
— 💧AntiFa Al…Alistair P D Bain 🏴 (@AlistairPDBain) October 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/Leouniii/status/1050703036421672961
Lol someone blocked me over gay penguins and me explaining to them how the zookeepers knew they were gay penguins…..
BECAUSE THEY SAW THE PENGUINS FUCK— Arvu's World Famous Toe Beans (@ArvuReBantra) October 12, 2018
Once again, Parks & Recreation predicted the future.
there was a Parks and Rec episode about this
— Anthony Segaert (@anthonysegaert) October 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/1050534629919191042
ok but it’s homophobic not to acknowledge that will & grace did it first!!
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 11, 2018
Let's not pull a Parks and Rec on these penguins and let them LIVE IN PEACE https://t.co/lTbi1ZWLQs
— Tor 💖 (@tor_hanyo) October 12, 2018
Just received my third press release about this today dw everyone – penguins definitely still gay, life is still definitely like parks and rec, and my email inbox is definitely still clogged
— Lucy Watson (@lucyj_watson) October 12, 2018
H/T Twitter
READ MORE
- Is weed actually bad for you?
- The pride and pitfalls in LGBTQ labels
- What is pansexuality? A queer woman opens up about her sexuality