Taichung Aquarium visitors worry over inactive Magellanic Penguins

Taichung Aquarium visitors worry over inactive Magellanic Penguins

2025-10-13

Following its recent opening, the new Taichung Aquarium has attracted over 110,000 visitors. Now, in the latest, the aquarium has been caught off guard by complaints that the Magellanic penguins. They are one of the aquarium’s star attractions, but they don’t seem to want to perform for the crowds. Instead, the black-and-white birds are lazing around in their enclosure and don’t seem to have the energy to move. Let’s find out more.

This penguin looks adorable as it floats in the water with its big round belly and its outspread wings. However, Taichung Aquarium has recently received complaints from fans saying the penguins are, well, not looking lively.

- That penguin isn’t moving

- It’s just tired, the way humans get tired. It swam until it got tired.

The Magellanic penguins have become the Taichung Aquarium’s star attractions, but some visitors have noticed them lazily lounging on the artificial shore, completely motionless. The inevitable questions have been: is this a case of poor care from the aquarium or are the penguins simply slacking off?

Lin Chen
Taichung Aquarium
It’s because the penguins are going through their molting period. For penguins, this is a very important stage to go through.

During this molting period, most of the penguins prefer not to be in the water and like to rest on land. This is because their feathers during this period have poor waterproof properties and the penguins also need to consume a lot of energy.

Lin Chen
Taichung Aquarium
Penguins can swim in the water thanks to their oily feathers. When they are molting, they will reduce their activity levels so that the energy stored before the molting period can last until the end of the molting period.

There are currently six Magellanic penguins in the aquarium. The number is expected to increase to 18 by the end of the year. The aquarium authorities remind visitors that even if you can’t see these cuties in the water, you can still see them on shore.

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#penguins #TaichungAquarium #Magellanicpenguins #moltingseason #Taiwantravel

台中海洋館"企鵝懶洋洋" 遊客打趣:上班不認真

2025-10-13

台中海洋館開館，吸引眾多遊客前往朝聖，累積進場人數超過11萬人次，沒想到最近有遊客投訴，表示企鵝區的麥哲倫企鵝，都懶洋洋的，毫無活動力，不知道是館方照顧不週，還是牠們上班不認真?對此海洋館出面表示，企鵝並沒有偷懶!

企鵝挺著圓圓的大肚子，展開翅膀，在水裡飄呀飄，模樣實在好可愛，不過，台中海洋館最近，卻收到粉絲投訴，表示，企鵝們上班不認真。

- (企鵝)根本就沒在動啊

- 應該是像人類一樣累了吧，游泳游累了

台中海洋館的麥哲倫企鵝，是館內的超人氣明星，不過卻有遊客看見，企鵝們最近都懶洋洋地待在岸邊，一動也不動，不禁冒出疑問，是館方照顧不週，還是企鵝們上班摸魚?

[[台中海洋館行銷副理林真]]
“因為企鵝牠正在經歷我們的換羽期，那換羽期對企鵝來講，是一個非常重要的階段”

換羽期間，因為羽毛的防水功能較差，加上會消耗大量能量，所以企鵝們大多不會下水，都是在陸地上休息。

[[台中海洋館行銷副理林真]]
“企鵝牠能在水中游泳，就是靠著這些具有油脂的羽毛，因此當他們在換羽期的當中，他們會減少活動量，讓換羽期之前儲存的能量，可以撐到換羽期結束”

目前館內一共飼養6隻麥哲倫企鵝，預計年底會增加到18隻，館方也表示，在換羽期間，若是水中看不見牠們的蹤影，可以在岸上找找。

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