Pesto the penguin, the viral sensation, is losing his little feathers

(Gray News) – Pesto is growing up.

Pesto, the penguin who lives at the Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne, Australia, created a viral sensation as a baby because of his gigantic size.

The king penguin now loses its baby feathers, a process called fledging, and adult feathers begin to take their place.

The aquarium said Pesto will continue to fledge in the next few weeks.

“Don't worry, he'll still be just as adorable, he'll just rock his new tuxedo!” the aquarium wrote on its website.

Once he has all of his adult feathers, Pesto will go swimming for the first time.

Pesto is a king penguin, the second largest species of penguin after the emperor penguin.

He was born earlier this year and quickly captured hearts around the world, “not only because of his adorable antics, but also because of his impressive size,” according to the aquarium.

Some of Sea Life's TikTok videos featuring Pesto have received millions of views, including one in which he towers over the adult penguins as a baby.

Sea Life said Pesto was the largest penguin they had ever seen. He eats 25 fish a day.

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