Penguin Love: Celebrate Their Special Day Sunday

What better way to celebrate chilly January than with your favorite Arctic bird?

Penguin Awareness Day is Sunday, Jan. 20, so bundle up and head to the closest ones around, at the Aquarium of the Pacific. 

 A native bird from Antarctica, penguins are full of surprises. For example, they have no snow in this Southern California exhibit. You can wander the wide penguins exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific, where you can watch their endless antics and even scooch under a translucent overhang to watch from beneath as penguins splash by.

When last we visited them, the colony of 13 Magellanic penguins got a head start on their breeding season at springtime when they moved into the new June Keyes Penguin Habitat at the aquarium. 

Assistant curator Rob Mortensen told reporters that caregivers were surprised when the flightless birds, most of whom arrived several months prior to May, 2012, began pairing up and laying eggs before their aquarium home was done. The Aquarium is located at 100 Aquarium Way, downtown Long Beach.

Penguin Awareness Day became a holiday in order to raise awareness to the fact that these flightless birds are on the endangered species list. 

Other ideas for marking the penguin awareness:

• Donate to Non-Profit Organizations that Help Penguins
• Adopt a Penguin
• Educate yourself about penguins and share what you learn with family and friends
• Watch a Penguin Movie 
• Read a book about Penguins

TELL US: How will you celebrate this fun holiday in town?