March of the Penguins: 5 chicks take ceremonial stroll after graduating from 'fish school'

Five Magellanic penguin chicks, two females and three males, took their graduation waddle past guests at the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens on Saturday.

The walk happens annually before chicks take their first swim at their new home, Penguin Island. It also celebrates penguin chicks graduating from "fish school." Chicks are taught how to eat whole fish, swim and socialize with caretakers. 

Five penguin chicks at the San Francisco Zoo waddle past visitors on their way to take their fist swim at Penguin Island on Saturday August 6, 2022. 

A video released by the zoo shows the five chicks walking together as caretakers kept them from straying off into the crowd along their 350-foot waddle. 

The penguins have been named "Agua," "Princess Cecilia," "Handy Harry," and "Nadiya," the final name has not been chosen yet. 

According to the San Francisco Zoo, Magellanic penguins are listed as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The San Francisco zoo is home to 59 Magellanic penguins.