MPs and celebrities have accused London Aquarium of “dither and delay” after the attraction failed to deliver a full proposal for its new penguin enclosure. The facility’s parent company, Merlin Entertainments, had vowed to share plans for the improved home of its 14 penguins by September, following a two-year campaign by this newspaper. The aquarium has now missed its own deadline and refused to set a new date to publish its plans.
Welfare concerns raised
Vet and Liberal Democrat MP Danny Chambers said: “I welcome the aquarium’s commitment but so far nothing has changed for these penguins. They cannot take comfort in promises of future improvements. Their welfare depends on the conditions they experience every single day, and every year of delay takes away another year of their remaining lives.”
Mr Chambers added: “The aquarium has had since May to produce a plan. Missing its September deadline and refusing to set a new one is unacceptable. We need firm dates and action, with no more dithering or delay.”
Promises and pledges
London Aquarium had vowed to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a larger enclosure for its gentoo colony, which lives in a basement without fresh air or daylight. Merlin also pledged to phase out gentoos at all its UK facilities.
Labour MP David Taylor, who helped lead an open letter to the Environment Secretary last year on the issue alongside Mr Chambers, said: “Sea Life made a clear promise and it needs to keep it. Missing its own September deadline after having since May to get this sorted is not good enough.”
He added: “There can be no more delays and no watering down of what was promised. I’ll keep pressing them in Parliament until they deliver for these penguins.”
Campaign and criticism
The Express partnered with Freedom for Animals and the Born Free Foundation in 2024 to demand that aquarium bosses give a better life to its penguins. Merlin, one of the largest aquarium operators in the world, pledged to merge the 14 penguins in London – some of whom have been there since 2011 – with the 17 gentoos at its Birmingham facility into a single colony in an improved habitat with natural light and significantly more water.
TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham also accused the aquarium's bosses of “dithering”. He added: “When you are imprisoned, sat despairing in a skyless bunker, then every day, hour, minute and second is agony. The aquarium's missed deadline betrays a total lack of compassion and their refusal to set a new date to publish a plan to end this misery is despicable.” Some of the birds, which are as young as three, face up to 30 years in the renovated enclosure.
A Merlin Entertainments spokesman said: “We remain absolutely committed to delivering a new home for the penguins. These decisions involve animals that we care deeply about, and we want to ensure every aspect is thoroughly considered and informed by expert stakeholder input. We are determined to get the plans right and are in the final stages of developing the proposals, which we will share in the coming weeks.”
