CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In the chilly confines of the Tennessee Aquarium, a heartwarming miracle has taken place. A fluffy addition to the aquarium's penguin family has waddled into the world.
"We have a new addition, we have a new Macaroni chick. It has been five years since we've had a Macaroni chick so we're very excited," said Loribeth Lee, assistant curator of forests for the Tennessee Aquarium.
Lee has been taking care of the aquarium's penguins for 17 years.
"This is something that I never dreamed I would do, but it is my dream job," said Lee.
One of the best parts of her job is caring for penguin chicks including their new 5-week-old, tiny, tuxedo tot.
"And he has already grown tremendously, I say. We will not know until November when we do a blood test and determine if it's male or female, but I just generally tend to call it 'he' because of his size and his personality," said Lee.
The aquarium's newest waddling wanderer is the first Macaroni chick hatched in five years. Macaroni penguins are one of 18 different penguin species and are considered one of the smallest.
For now, the baby chick is closed off from the other penguins and is only interacting with his mother, Bacon, and father, Merlin.
"They have a lot of nosy neighbors, not all of those birds are trying to be aggressive or anything toward the chick but some of them could be," said Lee. "We're just really waiting for him to grow his adult feathers and that will let us know when he's ready to leave the nest."
Lee said the chick will likely grow his feathers in the next 40 days, but he appears to be in good hands with his loving parents.
"Merlin on the other hand, he doesn't want to leave. He never seems to want to come out of the nest, he's very protective of his spot and of the chick, I think he could actually handle it as a single dad if he needed to," said Lee.
Tennessee Aquarium is also giving people a chance to name the new penguin. Anyone interested can join the aquarium's auction fundraiser in the fall where they will let the winning bid make the decision.
Until then, people can go to the aquarium and meet the charming penguin.
"These animals are right here and they love interacting with the public — just as much as our guests get joy from seeing and interacting with the animals, they get the same thing," said Lee.
