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.
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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.