World's First 'Test-Tube' Penguin Hatches at Sea World

Magellan 184 is the world’s first of any penguin species to be produced using artificial insemination; he was born 12 weeks ago at Sea World.

The penguin was hatched “using frozen then thawed semen,” according to CBS in Los Angeles. He is a Magellanic penguin, a species which was named after they were spotted in 1520 by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

The baby penguin was given a number due to the sheer volume of penguins that are born into Sea World, which makes it difficult to give names to every penguin born there.

“You could not tell if she was from frozen-thawed, or fresh chilledsemen or even from natural breeding,” said Justine O’Brien of the SeaWorld Reproductive Research Center. “She’s happy andhealthy, and that’s what we want to see.”

The cutting edge reproductive technology will ensure penguins and potentially endangered species in the world will be around for generations to come, noted CBS.

“Artificial insemination and semen preservation allows [sic] us to maximizethe genetic diversity of these populations and that means they remain healthy and stable into the future,” O’Brien said.