There wasn’t a dry eye among staff at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium as Magic and his fellow gentoo penguins cried out, mourning the loss of Sphen in an emotional scene never before witnessed by employees.

Sphen, whose same-sex love story with Magic made the couple globally famous, appeared to die of natural causes as he approached his 12th birthday, the aquarium confirmed on Thursday morning.

Penguin keeper Renee Howell witnessed the couple’s love story bloom from the beginning, and said the pair’s impact as a worldwide symbol of equality was “immeasurable”.

“It’s one in a million,” she said. “You never really will get to see this again.”

Sphen and Magic’s relationship began the same way as many other species – including humans, with courtship. Penguins will typically bow or sing to one another during this time, but gentoos are unique in that they will collect and present pebbles to one another.

“You see [penguins] searching along the beach, along the ice, looking for those perfect pebbles to give to their partners,” Howell said. “They will use those pebbles to build their nest and that is where they will lay the eggs.”

Sphen and Magic shot to fame in 2018 when news of their same-sex male relationship in the aquarium made global headlines. They had just celebrated six years together and successfully adopted and raised two chicks: Sphengic (Lara) in 2018 and Clancy in 2020.

Howell said that same-sex partnerships are thought to be somewhat common among penguins, but what was different with Sphen and Magic was how they shared their duties as parents.

“They took their individual [turns] on the nest, and they would go out and search for food, and then they’d come back and swap the care of the egg,” she said. “They definitely divvied up the roles really quite evenly between the two.”

In the wild when one penguin dies and their partner doesn’t know what has happened, they will typically go searching for them. Howell said this is why keepers at the aquarium felt it so necessary to show Magic that Sphen had passed, so he could understand “his partner wouldn’t actually be returning”.

The keeper said it was an incredibly emotional moment when Magic was taken to Sphen, alongside the gentoo colony and all of the staff members. Magic immediately started singing, with all the penguins around him joining in the chorus.

“It was a very beautiful moment, the air was just filled with their singing,” Howell said. “It showed the impact [Sphen] had on his partner and that [Magic] actually recognised that his partner was there.

“Soon after, he became quite protective of his partner and that was a very emotional time for us, but we needed to do that in order for him to hopefully comprehend what had happened.”

Howell said staff at the aquarium had never seen anything like this occur before, so they aren’t entirely sure what the singing means.

“But in that moment for us, it was a beautiful send-off.”

Magic is now entering his first breeding season without his partner, but is still collecting pebbles for a nest – a promising sign.

Knowing the impact Sphen had on the wider community is providing comfort to the entire team, who share strong bonds with the animals, Howell said.

“To us, they weren’t just penguins. They all have their individual quirks and personalities, so it is definitely sad losing one of those members.

“They inspired so many people across the entire world and to us, that is incredibly special and we’ll hold that with us for ever.”