Name Ripley Aquarium's trio of baby penguins

GATLINBURG — Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies announced Thursday the recent births of three endangered African black-footed penguins, and the Gatlinburg attraction wants the public to help name the birds.

Two of the penguins, one weighing 63 grams and the second 61 grams, were born to Haley and Glen. A third bird, weighing 60 grams, was born to penguins Nick and Doza.

Members of Ripley's husbandry team are monitoring the one male and two female penguins. All the birds are doing well, the aquarium said. One of the birds was born in late November and the other two in December.

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The aquarium is taking online submissions for names for the three birds. Submissions are allowed on www.ripleyaquarium.com through Sunday. The aquarium will include the top submitted names in a voting contest starting Wednesday. 

"Any birth is a beautiful thing here at the aquarium, but the birth of an endangered animal is truly spectacular. Best of all, the babies are ridiculously cute,” Ripley's Regional Manager Ryan DeSear said in the penguins' birth announcement.

Penguin Playhouse is birds' home

Ripley's penguins are members of an endangered species because members in the wild face a high risk of extinction. Only some 55,000 of the birds live in the wild.

The penguins have lived in the aquarium's $5 million Ripley’s Penguin Playhouse since 2010. The habitat includes indoor and outdoor exhibit areas. Visitors can crawl through transparent tunnels to see the birds up close. Burrowed nesting boxes and mud holes are built into the rocks of the habitat so that the penguins can build nests.

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The adult females lay two eggs in a nest, and both parents take turns incubating the eggs and feeding their young chicks.

The aquarium, whose tanks and exhibits include 1.4 million gallons of water, is at traffic light #5 on the Parkway in Gatlinburg. It's likely best known for its shark exhibit that visitors can view while standing in an underwater tunnel. 

The aquarium is owned by Ripley Entertainment Inc., perhaps best known for its Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand.