Penguin meets beluga whales in U.S. aquarium closed to visitors

Penguin at empty Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium visits the underwater viewing area and meets several beluga whales

SHOWS: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (MARCH 26, 2020) (SHEDD AQUARIUM - NO RESALE.

MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY (C) SHEDD AQUARIUM) 1.

VARIOUS OF 32-YEAR-OLD ROCKHOPPER PENGUIN NAMED WELLINGTON STAYING NEXT TO AQUARIUM AND THREE BELUGA WHALES SWIMMING IN AQUARIUM 2.

WELLINGTON WALKING NEXT TO AQUARIUM'S GLASS AND BELUGA WHALE FOLLOWING HIM WHILE SWIMMING IN AQUARIUM STORY: Wellington, the 32-year-old Rockhopper, was among several other penguins that visited the underwater viewing area at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, while it was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 quarantine.

The video, filmed on March 26, showed Wellington coming closer to the aquarium, where several beluga whales stopped their swimming to look at the bird.

"The latest penguin field trip seemed just as enriching for the belugas as it was for the birds," the aquarium said in a statement.

Beluga whales are native to the northern hemisphere, so they would likely never encounter a penguin in the wild, as all penguin species are found in the southern hemisphere, the aquarium added.

(Production: Oleksandr Ieltsov)