LONDON — There is outrage over the fate of 15 residents living in a cramped building in central London. Critics claim they live indoors without sunlight, fresh air or deep enough depth.
Gentoo penguins are one of the main attractions at Sea Life London Aquarium. SEA LIFE London Aquarium is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, located across the river from the British Parliament and between the Shrek-themed experience and the popular landmark, the London Eye.
British MPs joined activists this week to express growing concern for the country’s 15 feathered neighbours, calling for government intervention over what they called “un-British” treatment.
The company that owns the aquarium says its penguin facilities meet government standards for modern zoos.
Visitors walk past sharks, turtles and tropical fish in a large aquarium to reach the penguins. The penguins are housed in a noticeably cold exhibit made of floating rocks and artificial snow cliffs above puddles.
There, 10 women and five men appear to be spending their time mostly swaying, jumping and hissing in the water as visitors watch, while children squeal with excitement and adults whip out their cellphones to take pictures.
Most of those who applied by Thursday were families with children who told NBC News they were unaware of the controversy.
Shivani Gupta, a visitor from Canada, said the conditions at the penguin “didn’t seem right” but added that she would have visited the aquarium anyway as she had never seen a penguin before.
Chelsea Gibbons, 25, on vacation from Massachusetts, said she wasn’t aware of the concerns raised by activists, but said that although there was an additional area for the penguins to waddled around, there was nowhere for the penguins to go outdoors and the pool area seemed “a little small.” Gibbon said if he had known about the effort to free the birds beforehand, he would not have come. “Aquariums say they meet standards, but standards can always be improved,” she added.
Dozens of British MPs have signed an open letter to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds asking her to “consider whether penguins should be moved to more suitable facilities that better meet their behavioral, ecological and physiological needs,” according to British media reports.
David Taylor, an MP from the ruling Labor party, spearheaded the campaign, writing on X: “Abusing animals for money is unBritish.”
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the largest habitats for gentoo penguins are in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, and on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Rory Wilson, a professor of aquatic biology at Swansea University in the UK, told NBC News that gentoo penguins in the wild routinely dive to depths of more than 160 feet.
“I know that the official guidelines for penguins in captivity require at least four feet of water, but I don’t know who thought of that. It was clearly not someone who thought deeply about penguins,” he said. “They are incredibly efficient and amazing swimmers. They are the fastest and most athletic of all penguins, so any conditions in captivity that limit their ability to move on their own are clearly a concern,” he says.
As far as fresh air and sunlight are concerned, Mr Wilson said some gentoo subspecies may have difficulty surviving outdoors in the UK due to the risk of fungal infections.
Freedom for Animals, a British charity that opposes the captivity of animals in “zoos, aquariums, traveling zoos and circuses”, launched a campaign to free the penguins in February 2024, but the movement gained momentum last month after protests outside the facilities and the intervention of MPs.
A petition started by the charity, which has attracted more than 40,000 signatures, is calling on theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, which owns the aquarium, to ensure a “safe and permanent retirement for the penguins” at facilities that can provide “a more suitable environment”.
In a statement to NBC News, Merlin Entertainment said the penguin cages are located on the ground floor of the aquarium, rather than underground, and have been “carefully designed to reflect as closely as possible important elements of the penguins’ natural environment, including temperature-controlled temperatures and filtered fresh air, to ensure the penguins’ well-being.”
The company also said the enclosure is equipped with technology that reflects seasonal changes and creates appropriate seasonal lighting. It added that penguin colonies are regularly inspected by independent veterinarians and local and national authorities.
“This is a complex issue,” it said in a statement. “There are many things to consider, but we take every decision seriously and always think about what’s best for the animals. We’re open, we listen, and we’ve always done what’s right for the animals, based on expert advice and individual needs. That’s a promise we keep.”
