Pesto the penguin breaking new records as the summer slim-down beings

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Pesto the penguin – who is an internet sensation because of his size and weight is shedding fat and fur very fast. The now ten-month old chick is still big and continues to draw large crowds of local and international visitors; but change is afoot.

Transcript

00:00From every angle, it's clear, a summer shred is on.

00:08We're all kind of like our little babies growing up.

00:11A month ago, Pesto was a giant ball of fluff, doubling the weight of his parents.

00:17King penguin chicks stack on weight to stay warm.

00:20Pesto is the biggest sea life Melbourne Aquarium has ever seen.

00:24About the beginning of October, he was about 24.8 kilos,

00:28but then I fed him a few fish, so he probably did hit the 25 mark.

00:33Now his full cover fluff is more puffy coat,

00:36and is roughly 20 kilograms as he sheds fat and fur to become waterproof and swim ready.

00:42He's great, he's so cute. I was worried I'd miss out on how fluffy he was.

00:46He's cute, really cute.

00:48He's just unique and beautiful.

00:52We love Pesto.

00:53The aquarium normally gets one million visitors a year,

00:56and like the scales, new records are being set.

00:59It's been so busy. We've had our busiest week on record,

01:0350 to 70 percent more than we traditionally would get.

01:06Crowds have been seven deep, merchandise sold out and restocked,

01:10but change for penguins like humans can be emotional and exhausting.

01:14Today, Pesto crashed out belly first at 4.30pm.

01:18This phase was a bit of a moody phase.

01:21He was kind of like a teenager, being like,

01:23Mom, I want to stay upstairs, you know, I want to be on the ice machine.

01:26And Pesto isn't the only penguin in this colony of about 50 penguins that's having a molt right now.

01:32Some of the adults are having what's known as a catastrophic molt.

01:36It sounds worse than it is, and is a yearly event to get new waterproof feathers.

01:40It'll be done in two weeks, which is roughly when Pesto's transformation will be complete too.

01:46Another sign that it's coming to an end, Pesto's mood swings have ceased.

01:50Now he's going back to his beautiful self, so he's really friendly this morning.

01:54He was giving me a preen as well.

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