Mystic Aquarium

As a longtime leader in African penguin research, education and conservation, Mystic Aquarium is celebrating African Penguin Awareness Day on Saturday, October 8 to raise public awareness about the endangered species.

Guests will have the opportunity to meet a penguin trainer, see penguins paint, cheer on penguins as they race, participate in penguin themed activities and more, all included with aquarium admission.

The African penguin became endangered in 2010 and the world’s population has decreased by an alarming 60 percent over the last six years. The aquarium’s 30 African penguins serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts by helping resident trainers and scientists better understand the species and the threats it faces in the wild.

African Penguin Awareness Day is an initiative by South Africa’s SANCCOB (The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds), an organization that Mystic Aquarium has a strong partnership with. Each year, Mystic Aquarium penguin trainers travel to SANCCOB to assist in crucial African penguin research and rescue efforts to help prevent population loss.

9 a.m. Penguin feeding

9:45 a.m. Meet a penguin trainer and get an up-close look at African penguins on the Main Exhibit Floor

10 a.m. Become part of the discussion as Mystic Aquarium penguin trainers Skype with partners at South Africa's SANCCOB on the Main Exhibit Floor

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Penguin themed activities to learn more about the plight of the African penguin and what guests can do to help

11:30 a.m. Penguins will race in the Foxwoods Marine Theater in preparation for Mystic Aquarium's 5^th Annual Penguin Run/Walk on October 15

1 p.m. Watch African penguins paint with their feet in the Penguin Discovery Zone. Penguin paintings are sold in the Aquarium Store to raise funds for African penguin conservation

2 p.m. Penguin feeding

3 p.m. Watch a penguin trainer take an enrichment swim with 30 African penguins

About Mystic Aquarium
Mystic Aquarium is a division of Sea Research Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, and is counted among the nation’s leading aquariums with more than 300 species and an extensive collection of marine mammals, including New England’s only beluga whales. Mystic Aquarium has been a pioneer in offering guests a variety of up close encounters with a wide range of marine animals. The mission of Sea Research is to inspire people to care for and protect our ocean planet through education, research and exploration. Learn more at www.mysticaquarium.org or www.searesearch.org.

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