PHOTOS: Penguin Wears Wetsuit to Swim

Yellow-Pink will wear the wetsuit while swimming until grows new feathers.

• By Bree Shirvell
• January 26, 2013

A Mystic Aquarium penguin by the name of Yellow-Pink got fitted with a wetsuit this week so he could swim.

An African penguin’s feathers normally protect the penguin from getting cold. The penguins shed and grow all new feathers each year over a two-week period. But, 14-year-old, Yellow-Pink lost his feathers without getting new ones in the normal two-week period. The Mystic Aquarium’s penguin trainers, veterinarians and research scientists designed a neoprene wetsuit for Yellow-Pink to wear until he grows new feathers.

   

An African penguin’s dense feathers normally protect the penguin from getting cold Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

   

The Mystic Aquarium’s penguin trainers, veterinarians and research scientists designed a neoprene wetsuit for Yellow-Pink to wear until he grows new feathers. Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

   

Yellow Pink, a 14-year-old male African penguin, wears his custom neoprene wetsuit on exhibit at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn. He will wear his wetsuit while swimming until he grows new feathers. Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

   

A Mystic Aquarium penguin by the name of Yellow-Pink got fitted with a wetsuit this week so he could swim. Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

   

Yellow-Pink lost his feathers without getting new ones Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

Yellow-Pink lost his feathers without getting new ones Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

A Mystic Aquarium penguin by the name of Yellow-Pink got fitted with a wetsuit this week so he could swim. Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

   

The Mystic Aquarium’s penguin trainers, veterinarians and research scientists designed a neoprene wetsuit for Yellow-Pink to wear until he grows new feathers. Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

 

Yellow-Pink lost his feathers without getting new ones Credit: Abigail Pheiffer

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