If you thought soap operas had drama, you should go to the aquarium.
The love life of the penguins at Durban’s uShaka Marine World is keeping staff spellbound.
The salty drama all started three years ago when the relationship between Dee, at 35 the oldest African penguin in captivity, and her 10-year-old mate, Ocean, hit a squall.
Penguins are generally known to be in lifelong, monogamous relationships, but Ocean decided to go against the tide and dumped Dee for a younger penguin called Tamia.
To add salt to the wound, Tamia just so happens to be Dee’s daughter.
A forlorn Dee then decided that two could play that game and did some cradle snatching of her own, dating a three-year-old called Lani.
Both couples have been dating for three years now.
Animal behaviourist at the aquarium, Kelly de Klerk, said Ocean had his work cut out because he had to constantly impress his partner with trinkets.
When the Daily News called at the aquarium on Tuesday, Ocean tried to steal the keys from one of the staff to present to his beloved.
On the unfolding soap opera, De Klerk said: “We find it quite entertaining.”
She joked that she told her own partner to shower her with trinkets like Ocean did.
She said although Dee and Ocean had a rocky relationship, believers in true love should not feel lost: uShaka is home to three other penguin couples which have been perfectly happy together for 20 years.
Daily News