Videos of Pesto have been viewed by nearly two billion people worldwide through social media channels.
Capable of eating his own body weight in fish each week, he is the heaviest penguin chick the aquarium has ever had. He enjoys up to 25 fish a day, a varied diet of rainbow trout, salmon and sand whiting.
Experts say the bird is not obese and will start to slim down as he becomes an adult. His weight is likely to drop to around 15kg (33lbs) and his fluffy brown feathers will be replaced with sleek black and white plumage.
“He’s going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it,” added Ms Early. “Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined.”
Born in January, Pesto was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022. Since becoming a celebrity, he has boosted the number of visitors to the aquarium.
‘He’s gorgeous’
“I’ve seen heaps of videos, and there’s like 100,000 likes on them,” said Shaina Pyke, who came to see the chick after watching a clip on TikTok. “It’s very viral.”
Her friend Amanda Robar told the Melbourne Age newspaper: “The sheer size of this baby penguin blew me away, it exceeded my expectations. He’s gorgeous.”
Olivia Wilson, a spokeswoman for Sea Life, said: “Guests are arriving at admissions and double-checking Pesto is definitely on site.
“We have had messages on social media from people who are booking flights to Melbourne and want to know that Pesto will be here. People seem to relate to this chunky guy.”
King penguins are the second-largest species, after emperor penguins, and breed on islands in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic, including South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.
They are preyed on by leopard seals and killer whales. At one time harvested by humans for their eggs, feathers and oil, the population of king penguins is now increasing.
