Penguin colony breaks into song to mourn one half of gay couple

After six years and culminating in two offspring, Sydney’s most touching love story has ended.
Sphen, one half of an “iconic” gay penguin couple, has died, leaving behind his partner, Magic, and their two chicks, Lara and Clancy.
Sphen appeared to have died of natural causes as he approached his 12th birthday. His younger partner, aged eight, was taken to his side to help him accept the loss and to understand that his partner would not return. “He immediately started singing, which was beautifully reciprocated by the colony,” the aquarium said.
Sphen and Magic became a world-famous couple in 2018 when the staff at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium noticed the male gentoo penguins were inseparable, waddling and swimming together in the lead-up to mating season.
The keeper’s suspicions that the two males were in a relationship were confirmed when the pair started collecting pebbles to create a nest together.
To keep the loved-up pair included in mating season, the keepers gave the couple a dummy egg with which to practice incubating. They proved to be natural parents and were eventually given their own adopted egg to hatch. In October 2018, baby Sphengic (now named Lara) was born.
The aquarium labelled the couple a symbol of the Australian gay rights movement. The couple inspired their own float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade and appeared in an education syllabus to teach children about acceptance. The pair also featured in the Netflix show Atypical, a dark comedy that followed a teenage boy on the autism spectrum.
“The loss of Sphen is heartbreaking to the penguin colony, the team and everyone who has been inspired or positively impacted by Sphen and Magic’s story,” Richard Dilly, general manager at the aquarium, said. “We want to take this opportunity to reflect and celebrate Sphen’s life, remembering what an icon he was.”
While homosexuality in animals is uncommon, research suggests same-sex sexual behaviour is observed widely across the animal kingdom but rarely reported.
A study in the journal PLOS One surveyed 65 researchers who worked across 52 species and found that 77 per cent had observed same-sex sexual behaviour in animals. However, just 19 per cent had published their findings.
Gentoo penguins typically live to about 13 years and are known for being monogamous.
Sphen and Magic are not the only gay penguin couple to make headlines. At an aquarium in Bournemouth, Diego and Zorro, a pair of Humboldt penguins who have been together since 2017, also hatched an adopted chick.