New England Aquarium to Screen Documentary Exploring Penguin Love and Conservation

The film "Penguins: A Love Story" debuted at the Aquarium's Simons Theatre, highlighting remarkable stories of penguin courtship, connection, and resiliency.

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

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The New England Aquarium is hosting the debut screening of the new documentary "Penguins: A Love Story," which explores the remarkable stories of penguin courtship, connection, and resiliency from South Africa to Australia. The film introduces audiences to critically endangered African penguins and fairy penguins, the smallest penguin species, and highlights innovative conservation efforts to protect these species.

Why it matters

The New England Aquarium is home to a variety of penguin species, including endangered African penguins, and is part of an international effort to protect and restore wild penguin populations. The documentary screening aligns with the Aquarium's mission to inspire action through discovery and help create engaged, resilient communities around ocean and marine conservation.

The details

The documentary "Penguins: A Love Story" follows the stories of Lenny, an African penguin searching for his lifelong mate in South Africa, and Fluffball, an orphaned penguin chick being cared for at a penguin hospital. The film also explores the efforts of a patrol of Maremma dogs serving as protectors of fairy penguin nests and eggs in coastal Australia, keeping danger at bay and providing hope for the species.

  • The documentary debuted at the New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre on February 13, 2026.
  • The film will be shown at the Aquarium starting February 13 as part of its global release.

The players

New England Aquarium

A nonprofit research and conservation organization that has protected and cared for the ocean and marine animals for more than 55 years, providing science-based solutions and helping to shape policies that create measurable change to address threats the ocean faces.

Penguins: A Love Story

A new documentary recounting remarkable stories of penguin courtship, connection, and resiliency from South Africa to Australia.

African penguins

An endangered species that inhabit the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, threatened by the depletion of food from overfishing, climate change, and pollution.

Fairy penguins

The smallest penguin species, found in coastal Australia and threatened by predators like foxes.

Maremma dogs

A patrol of dogs that serve as protectors of fairy penguin nests and eggs in coastal Australia, keeping danger at bay and providing hope for the species.

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What’s next

The documentary "Penguins: A Love Story" will continue to be shown at the New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre as part of its global release.

The takeaway

The New England Aquarium's screening of the documentary "Penguins: A Love Story" aligns with its mission to inspire action through discovery and help create engaged, resilient communities around ocean and marine conservation, particularly for endangered penguin species like the African penguin.