My friend, Ashrita was looking to break his underwater juggling record. He always likes unique settings to do it in. Last time he broke it in the shark tank in an aquarium in New Zealand. This time he heard of a place closer to home, Mystic Aquarium-Institute for Exploration in Connecticut which had a program to swim with the beluga whales. He was going to inquire if he could break his record in their tank.

Of course, once Ashrita mentioned this to me I couldn't get it out of my mind. I wanted to swim with the belugas too. So I called the aquarium and followed the prompts to the beluga program. As they say timing is everything and it just so happened that the day I called was the last day of the program. The program runs from May 1st to October 31st.

I was about to hang up, but then I heard the recording mention that they had a year round contact program with the Penguins. The program consisted of a one-hour interaction with the penguins where you would get to pet them, play with them and participate in a training session. The maximum number of people per encounter was ten.

At that moment I decided not only was I going to do this before the end of the year, but I was going to treat my mom, niece and son to this adventure as part of their Christmas present.

Since they keep the groups small for both the animals and humans sake, the program sells out fast. By the time I made my reservation, the only available day left was December 23rd at noon. I took the last four spots. The minimum age requirement for this encounter was six, so luckily my niece made the cut.

In a few weeks I was sent my confirmation sheet in the mail.
The sheet instructed us to be a half hour early with the warning that if you were late you may forfeit the program and fees. (These penguins have a tight schedule you know.)

The confirmation also instructed us to bring a change of clothes in case you get dirty as the little guys may hop up on your lap (and poop). Okay they didn't say the poop part, but unless these penguins are wearing a depends, it is a distinct possibility.

Also, open toe shoes, jewelry, sunglasses and personal items are not permitted in the animal areas (they provide lockers). Pictures are allowed.

The morning of the encounter we headed to the aquarium. We got there early so we stopped to look at the beluga whales, pose with some shark jaws, and look at other exhibits.

At 11:30 we met our guide at the information booth. She introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Janet Dahlgren. You are about to experience a very unique encounter with African Penguins."

Wait. African Penguins! I didn't know such a thing existed. I must have missed that in the brochure. I thought all penguins were from the cold areas of the world like Antarctica.

She continued unaware of my ignorance. "The Mystic Aquarium is the first place in the country to start and formalize a training program like this, where you can have an up close encounter. I've been with the program for four years, since it's inception. I started as a volunteer, and now train and handle the penguins on a daily basis. We have a very unique surprise today, normally we have just one penguin, but today we will have two because we have one in training, to learn how to interact with people. If you follow me we can begin our encounter."

We walked over to this enclosed classroom like area. I had thought this would be an outdoor event –you know slide down some glaciers with the little fellas, okay, that's a stretch, but I really did think it would take place outside.

We went through a steel door that led to a little lobby area with the lockers. There was this disinfecting tray that we were instructed to step in, so that the germs from the outside on the bottom of our shoes were killed. This way our little friends can walk around on a relatively germ free floor.

Once inside there were exactly ten seats in a semi- circle. Well actually they weren't seats they were exercise stepping pads. They did offer a real chair for my mom, as she has arthritis.

On each of our seats was a stethoscope. Geez, not only were we going to pet them, we were going to play Vet as well. I loved it.

We sat down and Janet gave us instructions on handling.
"When I let the penguins out in a moment, they will come up to you. Please only pet them when their backs are facing towards you, as you can imagine any animal does not like a hand coming towards their face. Today I have two penguins, Yellow-Yellow who is 14 years old and a pro at this encounter program. She is also one of my very favorite, and considers me her mother. We also have a juvenile, Green-Pink who is new to this. She is only nine months old. You will be able to tell them apart because the juvenile is gray in color."

At that point my niece, Athena piped up, "How can you tell they are girl penguins?"
Janet answered, "Well, that's a good question. Actually you can't tell if a penguin is male or female by looking at it. To test its an invasive process, because their sexual organs are on the inside."

Athena said, "I think it might be easier if you just put a bow on it."
We all laughed.

With that question answered, Janet let yellow-yellow (yes that's her name) out of the carrier. She picked her up and ole yellow started to emit a loud, braying donkey-like sound. We all laughed. Who the heck knew a penguin made any sounds, much less one that sounded like a Bronx cheer.

Janet explained, "These penguins are also known as the jackass penguins because of that sound." Great, there's a name you want to get tagged with in the animal kingdom, especially if you're a female.

She put yellow-yellow down and she immediately came up to me and started eyeing me. So I began to talk to her, "Hey yellow-yellow why do you look so blue-blue? Is this whole thing old hat to you?" I was tempted to do a little fast-talking to see if I could impress her, but she had this look on already like I was an interesting creature. No need push it further.

I asked Janet, "So what's the deal with the names. Can't they be named something like Pengy, or Sammy or something?"
"Well they don't respond to names, so we just name them for identification purposes."
"Gotcha."

Yellow-yellow sat in front of me for a good ten minutes. I noticed she had this third eye membrane that kept going over her eye.
"Janet is this eye membrane for protection, like sharks have?"
"Ah yes. I have people go a whole session and not notice that. You see when the penguins dive in the water, it closes over the eye to protect it from any debris in the water. Also if you notice right above her eye she has a pink bald spot? That's there to release heat, it's a sweat gland. The hotter the penguin gets the more blood is sent to those glands, which allow it to be cooled by the surrounding air.
Remember these little gals are from the south-western coast of Africa living in colonies on 24 islands between Nambia and Algoa Bay."
"Yes the whole African penguin thing. Not sure exactly where Nambia is, I'll have to pull out my Magellan and look that up."

I guess Yellow-yellow didn't like my close examination…so she did a quick side step and sat in between my son, Spencer and Athena for about twenty minutes. Spencer's face lit up. (You see teenagers can still be easily amused).

Before she moved though I was able to feel her back. It was incredibly soft.

Janet continued to talk, giving us all kinds of penguin information. Unfazed, Yellow dozed off.
Hey what do you want? She's a senior citizen in the penguin world, luckily she didn't pull out her teeth and start to drool.

Janet told us that usually these penguins only live to be 11 years old in the wild. Of course in the aquariums they get to live longer, some as long as 40 years, since they don't have polar bears and whales chasing after them.

Meanwhile, while yellow-yellow was dreaming of trays of squid, Green-pink was checking everything out --just like a typical kid. She was pulling at people's shoelaces, tugging on long hair, trying to sneak and eat the fish next to Janet, and just having a grand old time exploring.

To make it more interesting for everyone (including the penguin), Janet handed out a laser pointer, you know the kind with the red beams that usually drives cats crazy. Well guess what? Penguins like to chase it too. Green-pink was pecking away at the red dot and running all around the room trying to catch it. I thought that was hysterical. Who would have thought!

At one point Janet took out a toy penguin, and Green-pink immediately went over to check it out. Spencer started laughing…"Aw Mom, I want a pet penguin." I just looked at him…"Yeah, maybe next year."

These little creatures were amazing though. My mom and Athena just sat staring at them. Actually everyone did. They were adorable to watch and had very distinct personalities.

They were also much smaller than I thought only about 26 inches tall. They each had the black stripe and spots on chest. The spots are unique for every penguin, kind of like human fingerprints.

Now that the penguins were getting used to us, Janet seized the opportunity to show us the inside of a penguin's throat. (Luckily Yellow-yellow must have brushed, because she didn't have fish breath.)

Her throat was lined with sharp "barbs" that ran all the way down to her stomach. In effect, these barbs gripped the fish going down and were angled in such a way that they couldn't squiggle back up or they be ripped to shreds. (Although the choice of being cut or getting eaten may just be the kind of chance the fish wants to take.) Think of the barbs like those spikes they have at certain parking garages. You can drive over them, but if you back up, it' blows your tires.

Janet explained about how that even though the birds are on the vulnerable species list due to numerous oil spills, there is still a limit to the amount of birds that are bred in captivity and that each bird's mate is carefully chosen to preserve a certain line. Fascinating, I thought they could have just had at it with whatever bird they chose. Who would have thought that they arranged marriages for penguins!

Then she said, that some birds are Fed-Ex'd in from other aquariums. Fed-ex'd mail order penguin brides! Too funny! Can you imagine the look on the face of the person that signs for that package! The package is put on the desk and starts to waddle away as she's signing. Okay, okay, Janet assured me they were not put in sealed envelopes, but in special crates. I started thinking of those renegade penguins in the cartoon Madagascar.

It was now time for each of us to sit by Janet while she held a penguin and listen to it's heartbeat. She tried to hold Green-pink but Greeny baby wanted no part of it. She just wanted to get down, romp around and play.

Janet laughed. "Figures, this is the same penguin that doesn't seem to care about hierarchy in the colony. She'll just go up to the head penguin and butt her way in, interfere with him getting food, but not eat it. More of a prankster." Ah a girl after my own heart, independent, playful and non-conformist. I liked that penguin.

Yellow-Yellow on the other hand was cooperative but very boisterous. Braying, loud and clear. Finally she calmed down. Janet gave us instructions on how to hear the heartbeat.

"Remember when you listen to his heartbeat it will be very fast. If you hear a steady heartbeat like a human's you're probably holding the stethoscope to her chest using your thumb. You will be hearing your own heartbeat instead, since your thumb has a pulse."

One by one we went up with our stethoscopes.
I was up first. I listened carefully, it was very faint but I heard it. I then petted the bird a few more times and felt her flipper." Wow, It's hard".
"It has to be to propel this little guy into the water. That flipper is made out of bone and very efficient. It enables the penguin to swim up to twelve mph, dive down 196 feet into the water, and travel 43 miles at a clip".
"Great if he wants to go on vacation she's got the tools and she's already dressed."

Next up was Spencer grinning ear to ear. He listened intently.

Athena went up and spent her time petting the penguin. She touched her neck, her flippers, and her back. She was exploring the whole animal.

Last up was my mom, who just thought the thing was adorable.

The program was now winding down. To reward the penguins Janet had food for the tuxedoed gals. They would dine on Capelin and herring, and for dessert, the chocolate cake of the penguin world – yummy squid. The gals gobbled it down in one fell swoop.

Janet explained that their digestive systems were extremely fast, and that if we ever saw them outside with their flippers out to the side and shivering, it wasn't that they were cold, it was just their way of helping the digestive process.

With that the program ended. Janet had yellow-yellow who was still on her lap wave goodbye. Green-pink was still waddling on the floor. Janet said, "Green-pink you did a great job. Say goodbye to the folks." And with that she pooped on the floor, a funny statement from a spunky gal.

We all left there with a greater appreciation for penguins. With the popularity of movies like March of the Penguins and Happy Feet, we were happy to say we now had our own encounter, up close and personal…it doesn't get any better than that.

Of course, sometimes kids are never satisfied…on the way home in the car, Spencer and Athena both said they wanted a penguin as a pet. I told them to reach into the box behind them. There I had two stuffed penguins, one for each. "This is the closest you are going to come guys…take care of them."

Later that night my niece was busy upstairs. I checked in on her. She had made a paper bib for her penguin, a nightshirt, fish to eat and squid. I couldn't believe that she had absorbed that much information.

I smiled to myself knowing that this was a Christmas gift that would stay with her for a lifetime.

Information:
Penguin Program – All year round
Mystic Aquarium – Institute for Exploration
Mystic, Connecticut
860-572-5955 x 520 for reservations
Program given: Monday – Friday 1x a day – 12:30
Saturday and Sunday –12:30
Weekend Spring time: 9:45 & 12:30
Maximum 10 people per encounter
Minimum age 6.
Cost: $62 p/p
Website: mysticaquarium.org or www.ife.org
Tell them Fran Capo sent ya.