npr:

In the penguin habitat at an aquarium in Sydney, Australia, love is in the air.

The newest penguin couple here are named Sphen and Magic, and the two males are about to take the leap into parenthood.

Sea Life Sydney Aquarium said they became inseparable before breeding season, “constantly seen waddling around and going for swims together.”

There’s a reason gentoo penguins have been called “one of the more romantic seabirds in the animal kingdom,” as Oceana explains, and it comes down to their nesting habits.

The species constructs nests out of pebbles, and according to Oceana, “individual pebbles may be shared between potential mates beforehand as a sign that they are interested in becoming a breeding pair.”

The couple, which have become known as Sphengic, have now gathered more pebbles than any other penguin pair at the aquarium.

The aquarium says their caretakers initially gave them a “dummy egg to allow them to practice incubating and develop their skills.”

It says it quickly became clear they were “absolute naturals,” which prompted the caretakers to give them a real egg from another pair of penguins that had two in their nest.

Same-Sex Penguin Couple Fosters An Egg In Sydney

Photo: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

livia-carica:

jellyfishleggs:

piraterogue:

xombiebrains:

rugessnome:

thestraggletag:

awed-frog:

Hey, do you know that feeling of hitching up a long skirt so you don’t fall on your face when walking upstairs, and then you immediately become a wretched yet resolute Jane Austen character? It’s a universal thing, right?

It’s like resting a laundry basket against your hip and suddenly you’re a long-suffering peasant woman, wondering if you’ll survive the winter.

a shawl wrapped around the shoulders and you’re wandering the moors in a Brönte novel, feeling melancholic

Looking out the window at the rain and you’re a love-stricken newlywed wondering when your husband will return from the war.

Long skirt billowing behind you while to go down the stairs, you’re a proper Lady in a flowing ball gown being introduced at a fancy social function.

Hair blowing in the wind and suddenly you’re hovering on a cliff by the sea, staring out into the waves and praying your merchant husband will return from his voyage across the ocean

Hood up against the rain and wind and you’re a medieval abbess defying the weather and travelling on foot with your people to find a place to establish a new community.