Penguin Encounter is an animal exhibit at the Sea World

Sea World

Sea World is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and theme park located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. The...

 amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

 on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast, Queensland

Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, featuring King

King Penguin

The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about , second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p...

 and Gentoo

Gentoo penguin

The Gentoo Penguin , Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. The gentoo penguin has pale whitish-pink webbed feet and a fairly long tail - the most prominent tail of all penguins. Chicks have...

 penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

s.

History

On 24 May 2010, Sea World closed the Sea World Aquarium and Shark Attack. These two attractions were subsequently demolished. One month later on 26 June 2010, Village Roadshow Theme Parks distributed copies of the Gold Coast Bulletin to in-park guests with a promotional cover over the top. This cover detailed a variety of new attractions for the theme parks in 2010. One of the attractions listed was an Antarctic penguin exhibit due to open by the Summer of 2010—2011. On 14 July 2010, it was announced that the exhibit would be called Penguin Encounter in addition to a number of facts about the exhibit. On 26 December 2010, Penguin Encounter officially opened to the public. Six months later in June 2011, Sea World began offering the Penguin Antarctic Adventure where guests can pay to interact with the penguins and see behind-the-scenes.

Exhibit

Penguin Encounter is located near the front of Sea World. Guests can view the penguins' enclosure from ground-level and underwater viewing areas. The exhibit is also accompanied by a variety of education information about penguins.

The air temperature in the abbr=off 90 exhibit is chilled to -1 C. The 220000 litres (464,943.3 US pt) pool has a water temperature of 5 °C (41 °F). Lighting is incorporated into the exhibit to replicate the Antarctic months where there is over 20 hours daylight in summer and 6 hours of light during winter. Up to 5 tonne of snow is generated daily for Penguin Encounter. The penguins are fed live fish twice daily.

Penguins

Penguin Encounter is currently home to 12 penguins all of which were moved from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 (presumably from Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World) two weeks before opening. Half of the penguins are King penguins with the other half being Gentoo penguins. A further 12 penguins (10 Gentoo and 2 King) were introduced in March 2011. Currently the exhibit features 16 Gentoo and 8 King penguins.

Penguin Antarctic Adventure

In June 2011, Sea World began offering a penguin animal adventure known as the Penguin Antarctic Adventure. For a cost of $250 per person, guests are given a behind-the-scenes tour of Penguin Encounter before being given the opportunity to interact with the penguins. The whole tour takes approximately 45 minutes with at least 20 minutes on the ice with the penguins.