Huge Australian King Penguin Chick Pesto Grows into Social Media Star 

In this photograph provided by SEA LIFE Melbourne, Pesto, a huge king penguin chick who weighs as much as both his parents combined, mingles in his enclosure at Australia's Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Sept. 3, 2024, and has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at the aquarium. (SEA LIFE Melbourne via AP)
In this photograph provided by SEA LIFE Melbourne, Pesto, a huge king penguin chick who weighs as much as both his parents combined, mingles in his enclosure at Australia's Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Sept. 3, 2024, and has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at the aquarium. (SEA LIFE Melbourne via AP)
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Huge Australian King Penguin Chick Pesto Grows into Social Media Star 

In this photograph provided by SEA LIFE Melbourne, Pesto, a huge king penguin chick who weighs as much as both his parents combined, mingles in his enclosure at Australia's Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Sept. 3, 2024, and has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at the aquarium. (SEA LIFE Melbourne via AP)
In this photograph provided by SEA LIFE Melbourne, Pesto, a huge king penguin chick who weighs as much as both his parents combined, mingles in his enclosure at Australia's Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Sept. 3, 2024, and has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at the aquarium. (SEA LIFE Melbourne via AP)

A huge king penguin chick named Pesto, who weighs as much as both his parents combined, has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at an Australian aquarium.

Weighing 22 kilograms (49 pounds) at 9 months old, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium has ever had, its education supervisor Jacinta Early said on Friday.

By contrast, his doting parents, Hudson and Tango weigh 11 kilograms (24 pounds) each.

Pesto’s global fame has grown with his size. More than 1.9 billion people around the world had viewed him through social media, an aquarium statement said.

He ate more than his own substantial body weight in fish in the past week: 24 kilograms (53 pounds), Early said.

The veterinary advice is that that quantity of food is healthy for a chick approaching adulthood.

His growth will plateau as he enters his fledging period. He has started to lose his brown feathers and will replace them with the black and white plumage of a young adult.

His keepers expect him to trim down to around 15 kilograms (33 pounds) in the process.

“He’s going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it. Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined,” Early said.

But she expects Pesto will remain recognizable as the sought-after TikTok celebrity he has become for another two weeks.

For now, he's a star attraction.

“Such a small head for such a big body,” one admirer remarked on Friday as a crowd gathered against the glass of the penguin enclosure at feeding time.

Hatching on Jan. 31, Pesto was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022, a year when there were six. The reason why there was none last year isn’t clear.

Adult king penguins weigh between 9.5 kilograms (21 pounds) and 18 kilograms (40 pounds), according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a global environmental group.

They are the world’s second largest penguin species, after the emperor penguin.



Coke Jumps on a Nostalgic Trend with New Coca-Cola Orange Cream Flavor

Bottles of Coac Cola chill in a refrigerated case in Coors Field before fans arrive to watch the Seattle Mariners face the Colorado Rockies, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Bottles of Coac Cola chill in a refrigerated case in Coors Field before fans arrive to watch the Seattle Mariners face the Colorado Rockies, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
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Coke Jumps on a Nostalgic Trend with New Coca-Cola Orange Cream Flavor

Bottles of Coac Cola chill in a refrigerated case in Coors Field before fans arrive to watch the Seattle Mariners face the Colorado Rockies, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Bottles of Coac Cola chill in a refrigerated case in Coors Field before fans arrive to watch the Seattle Mariners face the Colorado Rockies, April 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

A year after the launch of the short-lived Coca-Cola Spiced, Coke is adding another new flavor to its lineup.
Coca-Cola Orange Cream is scheduled to go on sale Feb. 10 in the US and Canada. It will be sold in regular and zero sugar varieties.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. said Monday that it developed the soda, which mixes cola with orange and vanilla flavors, in response to growing consumer demand for the comforting, nostalgic flavor.
Orange cream — first introduced with the Creamsicle ice cream bar in 1937 – has enjoyed a recent renaissance. Olipop, a probiotic soda, introduced an orange cream flavor in 2021. Carvel reintroduced its Orange Dreamy Creamy ice cream last year for the first time since 1972. Wendy’s also debuted an Orange Dreamsicle Frosty last spring, according to The AP.
Coca-Cola has been experimenting with new flavors to help keep customers engaged with its signature product. In 2022, it launched Coca-Cola Creations, a series of limited-edition Coke flavors in colorful cans and bottles. Coke added hints of coconut, strawberry and even Oreos to the drinks.
The company introduced raspberry-flavored Coca-Cola Spiced last February, saying the offering would be a permanent addition to its lineup. But the company abruptly pulled Coca-Cola Spiced off the market in September, saying it would be replaced with a new flavor this year.
Coke said Coca-Cola Orange Cream won’t be a permanent flavor but would remain on sale at least through the first quarter of 2026.
In an interview last year, Coca-Cola’s North American marketing chief, Shakir Moin, said it used to take the company at least a year to develop a new product. But it's trying to move more quickly.
“Consumers are moving faster. The market is moving forward faster. We’ve got to be faster than the speed of the market,” he said.