A TikTok has gone viral showing a young penguin at the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia throwing a hissy fit when he’s not allowed to go swimming. In the 43-second video, uploaded by someone called Emily (username @e.milydaw.n), the baby bird — adorably named “Pesto,” incidentally — is being spoken to by an aquarium worker, who leads him away from the other penguins who, presumably, are heading for a refreshing dip.
There’s text on the screen during the clip, but it’s still difficult to read even after tinkering with brightness and contrast filters, so here’s what it says: “Pesto can’t be unsupervised when the workers are on lunch breaks cause he’s not allowed to swim. His feathers aren’t waterproof so he has to be locked away and he was not happy about it. *Angry flaps*”
As is often the case with cute animal videos, this one garnered a lively response from TikTok users, many of whom were enamored with the little guy.
How did TikTok react?
Several users asked the same question regarding why Pesto wasn’t allowed to swim. They said things like, “Wait why can’t he go swim,” “why isnt he allowed to swim. poor baby,” “Why isn’t he allowed to swim?,” “But why isn’t he allowed to swim!” and “so cute!! how come he can’t swim? don’t the babies swim in the wild?” Of course, the answer to that question is in the video, which several other users pointed out.
Another user wanted to know how they’re kept away from the water as babies in the wild, asking, “So in the wild, say a penguin wants to swim but their feathers aren’t waterproof yet…do their parents stop them? Or do they freeze after swimming?” Someone responded with the answer, writing, “They aren’t near water when they’re babies.”
One user humorously quoted Step Brothers, comparing Pesto to the petulant characters played by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, writing, ““This house is a prison!”” It prompted others to complete the dialogue from the movie with the subsequent comments, ““This house is a prison!”” and ““In the galaxy of this sucks CAMEL D!””
Others referenced Pesto’s humorous hissy fit, commenting things like, “No matter the species – tantrums still look the same,” “It’s okay Pesto, I too flap my arms when I’m unhappy,” “He wants to speak to the manager, immediately,” “He’s like “STOP TREATING ME LIKE A BABY”!!” and “Pesto’s like “I hear you Sheila, but I have rights”.”
Some enjoyed the way the supervisor ushered him away from the swimming group, writing things like, “Just shuffling pesto along lol,” “I love the gentle guidance,” “not her pushing him away like he’s a small child” and “Treating him like a toddler, love it.”
A recent BBC article about Pesto says he’s due to gradually lose all of his baby feathers by the end of November (a recent NBC article about him says chicks like him lose them at around ten months). That means he should be allowed to start swimming this month. We’re sure the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium will upload videos of him having fun in the water in no time.