Penguin chicks are cute — and penguin chicks swimming are even cuter.
Three African penguin chicks that hatched in January took their first swim at Connecticut's Mystic Aquarium on Tuesday.
They spent the first 13 weeks of life huddled under their parents to stay warm.
Now that the penguins are almost fully grown, trainers have worked to introduce each chick to a small spray of water to prepare them for their first swim.
Mystic Aquarium is part of the African penguin Species Survival Plan, a breeding program that ensures the long term survival of African penguins in zoos and aquariums.
Since 1997, the aquarium has reared 19 penguin chicks as part of the program.
Later this month, a blood sample will be taken to determine the gender of the chicks, which will each receive wing identification beads to show the order in which they joined the Mystic Aquarium’s African penguin colony.