Sphen, Australian Penguin of Famous Same-Sex Couple, Dies at Age 11

Sphen, a gentoo penguin who became globally famous for his long-standing same-sex relationship with another male, died earlier this month in Sydney, Australia, at the age of 11.

Sphen and his 9-year-old partner Magic became “international queer icons” after they paired up and started building a nest together at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in 2018, writes the New York Times’ Isabella Kwai. The couple successfully hatched two chicks together after keepers gave them foster eggs to incubate.

Their relationship was featured in the Netflix series “Atypical,” and large, inflatable replicas of the two dads appeared on a float in Sydney’s 2021 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. (The real birds couldn’t join because temperatures were too high.) Their story has been included in Australian schoolbooks to teach children about sexuality, consent and relationships.

“Sphen and Magic’s love story captivated the world,” Richard Dilly, the aquarium’s general manager, says in a statement, per the Associated Press’ Rod McGuirk. “Sphen and Magic shared a bond unlike most other penguin couples—they could even be found together outside of the breeding season, which is unique for gentoo penguins.”

As he approached his 12th birthday, Sphen’s health started to deteriorate. The aquarium euthanized Sphen to ease him of any discomfort or pain. After Sphen died, keepers brought Magic to see the body so that he would understand his companion wouldn’t be coming back.

Upon seeing Sphen’s body, Magic immediately began singing. Other members of the gentoo colony quickly joined him in a “beautiful send-off,” says Renee Howell, a penguin keeper at the aquarium, to the Guardian’s Emily Wind.

“The air was just filled with their singing,” Howell adds.

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Now, keepers will focus their attention on Magic as he prepares to enter his first breeding season without his partner.

“We will keep an eye on Magic, as this is new, it’s hard to comment on how he’s coping,” Rachel Anker, a spokeswoman for the aquarium, tells the Washington Post’s Rachel Pannett.

Sphen and Magic’s relationship began in the summer of 2018. Sphen had been transferred to Sea Life Sydney Aquarium from SeaWorld, while Magic arrived from the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium.

When the two dapper birds crossed paths for the first time, it was basically love at first sight. Their meet-cute followed the same predictable pattern as male-female gentoo partnerships. First, they bowed to each other. Then, they brought each other pebbles—and admired their gifts. From there, they stood close to one another and would sing together. Neither bird showed interest in any other members of the colony.

To keepers, it was abundantly clear what was going on: Sphen and Magic had chosen each other. The penguins soon began collecting pebbles and stones to build a nest.

Sphen and Magic were talented architects: They constructed the biggest nest of the entire colony. While the other young penguins were off frolicking around, Sphen and Magic dutifully sat atop their nest, preparing for an egg.

Keepers decided to give them a dummy egg so they could feel like they were participating in the breeding season. The two dads did such a good job that keepers gave them a real egg from a male-female couple that had been neglecting their nest. Sphen and Magic officially became parents with the birth of their first foster chick, Lara (formerly named Sphengic). That year, Lara was the only chick to hatch from all the eggs in the entire colony.

Sphen and Magic dutifully raised Lara, feeding, protecting and singing to her. They were given another foster egg in 2020 and successfully hatched a chick named Clancy.

In the wild, gentoo penguins have an average lifespan of 15 to 20 years. They live on the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as on islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. They have tuxedo-like plumage: white feathers on their chest and stomach, and black feathers on their back, head and neck. Their beaks and feet are bright orange, and they have a small white patch of feathers above each eye.

Gentoo penguins typically stand around 2.5 feet tall and weigh 12 pounds, making them the third-largest of all penguin species. They’re speedy swimmers that glide through the water to elude predators or forage for food such as krill, small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.

During spring in the Southern Hemisphere (October and November), the penguins find dry patches of ground and begin building nests with small rocks and feathers, creating huge colonies of nesting gentoos. Each monogamous breeding pair typically lays two eggs, which parents take turns keeping warm for a little more than a month. When chicks hatch, they are covered in downy gray feathers.

Same-sex partnerships are not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Elmer and Lima, two male Humboldt penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, became a couple in 2021 and hatched their first foster chick in early 2022. In January 2022, photographers off the coast of Maui captured images of two male humpback whales copulating.

Scientists have recorded same-sex sexual activity in more than 1,500 species—a figure that likely underestimates the prevalence of the behavior, because researchers aren’t often specifically looking for it.

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.