20th January 2025

In February 2024 we announced a new campaign to free 15 Gentoo Penguins from a horrific existence: deep below the streets of London, Sea Life’s Aquarium imprisons these incredible animals without any daylight or fresh air. They live in a basement, surrounded by glass and the prying eyes of endless streams of visitors. Some of them have been in this dungeon for their entire lives.

Last year we launched a petition and began raising awareness, demanding release for the penguins. Gentoo Penguins are the fastest swimmers and the deepest divers of the penguin world, but their tiny enclosure doesn’t allow them to fulfil their instinctive need to swim and dive. Sea Life and its parent company Merlin Entertainments try to pass the penguins’ captivity off as ‘conservation. However, gentoo penguins are doing well in the wild - their population is categorised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species as of Least Concern’. Even if they were endangered, it would be impossible to release captive-bred penguins into the wild. This means it is clear that keeping these animals in such dire conditions has absolutely no conservation benefit.

This Penguin Awareness Day we are thrilled to welcome our colleagues at Born Free Foundation to the campaign. After discussing the fight to secure a safe future for the Gentoo penguins, we are grateful that they have chosen to join us in the campaign for their freedom.

Chris Lewis, Captivity Research Manager at Born Free said:

A life in an aquarium is so far removed from that which a penguin would experience in the wild. These sociable, complex and characterful birds are openly described by the zoo industry as “commodities” for the entertainment of visitors. How is it possible that such an unnatural, artificial environment, which deprives these birds access to natural light and seawater, and clearly prevents them from expressing their natural behaviours, is deemed suitable for their welfare? It serves no conservation purpose and the only educational message it conveys to visitors and the public is that these penguins should not be kept in captivity.

Born Free’s support is a fantastic step forward in this powerful campaign. In the time since Freedom for Animals launched this campaign, we have seen thousands of petition signatures, regular protests outside Sea Life London Aquarium, 22 MPs' signatures on an Early Day Motion in support, 26 high-profile signatories on an open letter, and continued objections from the public about Sea Life's treatment of penguins. We are now reinvigorating this campaign with Born Free Foundation's support to make this very clear: we will not stop until these penguins are moved to a suitable habitat.

Sea Life keeps penguins in a windowless basement for one reason alone - profit. Tourists pay to come and see them, so they continue to breed generation after generation of living ‘exhibits’, who did not consent to this life, and deserve so much better. Our petition demands that Merlin Entertainments permanently stops the exhibition of penguins, and guarantees the safe and permanent retirement of the penguins at the London Sea Life Aquarium to a facility that can provide a much more suitable environment. This should be a genuine sanctuary independently operated by a recognised and respected welfare and conservation organisation. We encourage Merlin Entertainments to provide funding to facilitate the retirement and lifetime care of the penguins. Not only do they have more than enough funds to do this, but, more importantly, they have the moral obligation to do so.

You can help! Here’s how:

• Boycott ALL Merlin Entertainments venues.

• Sign and share the petition.

• Ask your MP to sign the Early Day Motion.

• Adopt a penguin.

• Become a Freedom Champion.