Medford students receive visit from New England Aquarium penguin

Andrea Newman, senior penguin biologist at the New England Aquarium, talks about African penguins while Roast Beef checks out the kids at St. Josephs School during a March 4 visit. Wicked Local Staff Photo / David Sokol


• "He’s very hungry this morning," Newman tells the kids.

  After finishing No. 10, Roast Beef considers taking one more fish, staring it in the eye before waddling away.

  "I think he’s full," Newman adds. "Penguins are very good at letting us know when they are full."

  Food isn’t as abundant for penguins in the wild. Although more than 40 African penguins live at the New England Aquarium, Newman says they are one of 13 penguin types considered threatened or endangered. O

  nly five types of penguins do not fall under that category.

  "If we take too much fish out of the ocean for us, there’s not going to be any for the penguins," Newman tells the crowd.

  It is obvious the students are prepared for Roast Beef’s visit, as they rattle off answer after answer to many of Newman’s questions.

  The less-informed observers learn African penguins are usually 1.5 to 2 feet tall and weigh 5-8 pounds; that every African penguin has a unique arrangement of spots on their bellies — like human fingerprints; and that penguins can swim as fast as 25 mph.

  Newman keeps the educated audience interested with other interesting details, like the fact that penguins have the highest density of feathers among all birds, which helps them stay warm.

  She also figures out how to work the crowd.

  "Who thinks penguins are pretty cool animals?" she asks.

  Hands flung upward from all five rows, as St. Joseph’s students show their appreciation for their new non-feathered friend.

  
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  New England Aquarium Senior Penguin Biologist Andrea Newman holds up a poster of a penguin, as she looks over at the aquarium’s African penguin named Roast Beef, who was paying a visit to St. Joseph School. Wicked Local Staff Photo / David Sokol
  
• |Roast Beef sticks his head out of a special enclosure before receiving a fish to eat. New England Aquarium biologists say Roast Beef had missed his breakfast the morning of his visit to Medford. Wicked Local Staff Photo / David Sokol