Sphen, a gentoo penguin who rose to worldwide fame with his same-sex partner Magic after they incubated eggs and raised two chicks together, died this month at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. When Magic saw Sphen’s body, “He immediately started singing, which was beautifully reciprocated by the colony,” the aquarium said.
Sphen was nearly 12 years old when he died earlier this month, the aquarium said in a statement. “This is considered a long life for a gentoo penguin, who have an average life span of roughly twelve to thirteen years.” Magic, who is only 8, “was taken to his side to help process the loss and understand his partner wouldn’t return,” reported the Guardian.
Magic began to sing, and the colony joined in. Penguin keeper Renee Howell explained to the paper, “The air was just filled with their singing. It showed the impact [Sphen] had on his partner and that [Magic] actually recognised that his partner was there.” The staff had never seen such behavior among penguins. “But in that moment for us, it was a beautiful send-off,” Howell said.
Sphen is also survived by the two chicks he and Magic raised: Sphengic (Lara), born in 2018, and Clancy, born in 2020.
I first reported on Sphen and Magic when their story made headlines in 2018. They were not the first famous same-sex penguin pair—that honor belongs to Silo and Roy, parents of Tango, who were immortalized in the children’s book And Tango Makes Three. And as I noted, too, there have been many of them since. But Sphen and Magic captured hearts around the world, helped by the aquarium’s enthusiastic support. “They inspired a Mardi Gras float, have been included in the NSW [New South Wales] education syllabus, and even featured in the Netflix series Atypical. Countless books speak of their love story, even documentaries on same-sex animal couples have featured Sphen and Magic,” said the aquarium.
More touching than their fame, however, was their bond. The aquarium also noted that “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.”
Sphen and Magic had also surprised Howell with how they divided parenting duties. “They took their individual [turns] on the nest, and they would go out and search for food, and then they’d come back and swap the care of the egg,” she told the Guardian. “They definitely divvied up the roles really quite evenly between the two.”
Many fans of the pair left touching tributes to Sphen at the aquarium’s website. “Rest in Peace Sphen. Your legacy will continue to show the beautiful love that can exist between everyone,” wrote one.
“The love was not only a love between two male penguins, but was also a voice for equality in the whole world,” said another.
“Dearest Sphen, You and Magic have shown the world the boundless power of love, a love when nurtured is capable of flourishing and making of a future that makes us all more whole,” wrote a third.
Sphen’s health had deteriorated in the days before his death, and aquarium staff chose to euthanize him and end his suffering, the BBC reported.
Aquarium General Manager Richard Dilly told the BBC that “The team’s focus is now on Magic, who will soon prepare for his first breeding season without Sphen.”
Here’s a lovely tribute to Sphen by the aquarium:
May we hear the penguins singing? Surely someone recorded their voices in mourning!
Good question! I imagine if anyone had recorded it, Sea Life Sydney would have posted it on their website and/or Instagram page, but I haven’t found anything in either place yet.