Everyone, meet Azulito!
On Friday, the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego finally revealed the name of one of its Little Blue Penguins after receiving nearly 2,500 votes for names.
The reveal happened underwater as two divers unfurled a banner with the winning name in the aquarium's Giant Kelp Forest. Azulito translates to “little blue” in Spanish.
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“This is the first time we have invited the public to help name one of our animals. So, it was a special moment for aquarium fans and our staff. We hope this is the beginning of a long tradition of naming our penguins,” said Kayla Strate, lead penguin aquarist. “We want to thank everyone who submitted a name online. Azulito is the perfect fit for this tiny penguin and we love that it’s a nod to our
binational region.”
Voters were asked to choose between five names and Azulito won by a landslide with 924 votes, the aquarium said. Diego followed behind with 588 votes and Flip came in third with 438, followed by Triton and Torrey with 234 and 281 votes.
The Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins' habitat is opening on July 12 for those who want to stop by and see Azulito, along with Magic, Nero, Persimmon, Reka, Cornelius and Katie.
Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins is included in the cost of general admission to Birch Aquarium.
For more details, click here.
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