Magical moment: Sydney Aquarium fills with song after seabirds mourn death of gay penguin Sphen | Animals

There wasn't a dry eye among staff at Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium as Magic and his fellow gentoo penguins cried out and mourned the loss of Sphen in an emotional scene never witnessed by staff before.

Sphen, whose same-sex love story with Magic made the couple famous worldwide, apparently died of natural causes shortly before his 12th birthday, the aquarium confirmed on Thursday morning.

Penguin keeper Renee Howell has witnessed the couple's love story from the beginning and says the couple's impact as a global symbol of equality is “immeasurable.”

“It's one in a million,” she said. “You'll never see anything like it again.”

The relationship between Sphen and Magic, like in many other species – including humans – began with courtship. Penguins usually bow or sing to each other during this time, but Gentoo penguins are unique in that they collect pebbles and give them to each other as gifts.

“You see [penguins] “They search the beach and the ice to find the perfect pebbles to give to their mates,” Howell said. “They use those pebbles to build their nest, and that's where they lay their eggs.”

Sphen and Magic rose to fame in 2018 when news of their same-sex relationship at the aquarium made headlines around the world. They had just celebrated their sixth anniversary together and successfully adopted and raised two chicks: Sphengic (Lara) in 2018 and Clancy in 2020.

Howell said same-sex partnerships are probably quite common among penguins, but the difference between Sphen and Magic is the way they divide their parenting responsibilities.

“They took their individual [turns] on the nest, and they went out to forage for food, and then they came back and swapped care of the egg,” she said. “They definitely split the roles pretty evenly between the two of them.”

In the wild, when a penguin dies and its mate doesn't know what happened, they usually go looking for it. Howell said that's why the aquarium's keepers felt it was so necessary to show Magic that Sphen had died, so he could understand “that his mate wasn't really coming back.”

The zookeeper said it was an incredibly emotional moment when Magic was brought to Sphen along with the gentoo penguin colony and all the staff. Magic immediately started singing and all the penguins around him joined in the chorus.

“It was a beautiful moment, the air was filled with their singing,” said Howell. “It showed the impact [Sphen] had on his partner and the [Magic] actually realized that his partner was there.

“Soon after, he became very protective of his partner and it was a very emotional time for us, but we had to do this so that he could hopefully understand what had happened.”

Howell said aquarium staff had never seen anything like it before, so they weren't entirely sure what the singing meant.

“But at that moment it was a wonderful farewell for us.”

Magic is now beginning his first breeding season without his mate, but is still collecting pebbles for a nest – a promising sign.

Knowing the impact Sphene has had on society as a whole is a comfort to the entire team, who have a strong bond with the animals, Howell said.

“To us, they weren't just penguins. They all have their own individual quirks and personalities, so it's definitely sad to lose one of those members.”

“You have inspired so many people around the world and for us this is something very special and will always be remembered.”