Diverse Species on Display
When it opened to the public earlier this year, the Penguin Palooza exhibit featured two new species: the playful Rockhopper penguin and the flying Inca Terns. But Newport Aquarium didn't stop there. It just added 11 colorful Macaroni penguins. The new species is the fifth penguin species on display in the exhibit, making Newport Aquarium’s gallery the second most diverse collection of cold-weather penguins in the country.

The Macaroni penguins join the King, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Rockhopper penguins in Penguin Palooza. Only Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, Texas can claim more penguin diversity in a cold exhibit with six species. Newport Aquarium ties Sea World San Diego with its five species.

The Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it bears a distinctive yellow crest just above its eyes and a prominent bill. Adults weigh about 12 lbs. and are about 28 inches tall. The male and female are similar in appearance although the male is slightly larger with a relatively larger bill. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine lifestyle. With about 18 million individuals, the Macaroni penguin is the most numerous penguin species. However, widespread decline in populations have been recorded since the mid 1970s. These factors result in their conservation status being reclassified as vulnerable.

The new penguins at the Aquarium range from 2 to 18 years old. There are 7 males and 4 females. In the wild, Mac penguins would eat squid and krill. At the Aquarium, they’ll enjoy a steady diet of capelin, herring, mackerel, silversides, smelt, squid and krill.

The Penguin Palooza Exhibit is a cold-weather habitat, kept at 34-degrees and on the lighting cycle of the Antarctic Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic islands, where these animals are found naturally.

New Habitat
Aquarium biologists worked with rock-formation experts to redesign the interior of the exhibit to create a more dynamic, interesting habitat for the animals. The additional “steps” in the rock formation also provides more nesting opportunities for the birds and more paths for the penguins to explore in the new display.

Also new in the exhibit is a state-of-the-art LED lighting grid that greatly conserves energy. With this new lighting system, biologists designed a new, night-time lighting cycle modeled after Aurora australis – the southern hemisphere’s version of northern lights - that will allow the penguins to be seen by guests even at night.

New Show
The opening of the exhibit will also signal the launch of the Aquarium’s newest live show. Taking
place in the Penguin Palooza exhibit space, the show will feature an Aquarium presenter who will
entertain guests with penguin facts and interact with several animated penguin characters on a new
high definition video board, all made exclusively for the Aquarium’s Penguin Palooza exhibit. There’s
also a new, expanded seating area for Aquarium guests to sit up close and watch the penguins play and swim.

More To See and Do
The Aquarium also doubled the footprint of the guest side of the exhibit. Included in that new space will be the penguin interactive wall for kids, a map of penguin habitats world-wide, “fast fact” graphical displays as well as fun photo opportunities for families with three-dimensional penguin models.

Proud Sponsor of the
NEW Penguin Palooza Exhibit.