Too cute: Two Gentoo penguin chicks hatch at Tennessee Aquarium

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Cuteness alert: Officials at the Tennessee Aquarium announced two new residents on Thursday, introducing a pair of Gentoo penguins.

According to a news release, the penguins emerged from their shells on June 7 and June 8 after the eggs were laid in late April.

One of the chicks provided a first for the aquarium. It is the first offspring of parents that were hatched and raised at the Chattanooga site, WATE reported. The parents were Roxie and Beaker, aquarium officials said.

“This is the first time our chicks here have had chicks,” Loribeth Lee, the aquarium’s senior aviculturist, said in a release.

The second chick is the offspring of Pebbles and Nipper, and the dad is also the father of Beaker.

“Nipper is just like Steve Martin’s character in ‘Father of the Bride Part 2,‘” Lee said. “He has a kid and a grandkid on the same day, and the grandkid comes first!”

The chicks’ genders remain a mystery and won’t be known until results from an annual blood test come back in the fall, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

The Tennessee Aquarium has now successfully hatched 24 chicks since 2009, according to the news release.

Fans of the penguins can track the chicks’ growth and digitally observe their interactions with their parents, other birds and animal care specialists, WATE reported. The interactive site is here.

Cox Media Group