5 little blue penguin chicks hatch at Adventure Aquarium in time for Mother's Day

CAMDEN, New Jersey (WPVI) -- There are some adorable new arrivals at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden just in time for Mother's Day.

Five little blue penguin chicks recently hatched, weighing a little over 2 pounds each.

Little blue penguins are the smallest species of penguin in the world.

The Adventure Aquarium enlisted the help of guests and members to name the chicks.

"The mythological creatures theme won which is fitting since little blue penguins are also known as 'fairy penguins,'" the Aquarium says.

Four of the penguins are girls and were named: Siren, Fairy, Pixie and Phoenix. The fifth and final chick hatched was the only boy, named: Griffin.

The little penguins are already busy showing off their swimming skills!

The Aquarium says it's a pandemic baby boom of sorts.

This is the largest group of hatchlings than all four previous breeding seasons combined, officials say.

The Adventure Aquarium's Bird and Mammal Team aimed to replicate the penguin's natural environment in the exhibit.

They made modifications including increasing water temperatures by two-to-four degrees every two months varying from 58F to 70F, altering the lighting in the exhibit to match the daily length of sunlight on Phillip Island, Australia, adding a fan to the exhibit space for improved air circulation to evaporate excess water away from the nesting boxes and adding ventilation holes and lifting the roofs of the nesting boxes to provide better in-box temperature and humidity levels.

Of the five chicks, two are siblings. One of the chicks is the sister of Aroha, the little blue penguin born in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.