Sea Life penguins captive with 'no daylight'

Gentoo penguins in the Sea Life habitat

Penguins at the Sea Life London Aquarium are being kept captive with "no daylight, no fresh air, and just a pitiful pool of a few feet in depth", it has been claimed.

The wildlife charity Freedom for Animals has written an open letter calling on the attraction to release the colony of "exploited" gentoo penguins.

Its letter, signed by campaigners including Chris Packham, the presenter and conservationist, and water campaigner and singer Feargal Sharkey, argues the penguins should be moved from their "small basement" enclosure to a sanctuary.

Sea Life said the penguins' habitat had been created on the advice of specialist vets.

Other signatories include Ecotricity founder and Labour donor Dale Vince and 21 other campaigners.

The letter states: "Gentoo penguins are the strongest swimmers and the deepest divers of all birds, yet their enclosure offers just 182cm (6ft) to 213cm (7ft) of depth of water in which to dive a pitiful fraction of the 182m (600ft) they can dive to in the wild.

"They can swim at speeds of up to 35km/h (22mph) in the wild, but could never approach that in their London enclosure."

Gentoo penguins are classified as "near threatened". The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has said they are of a lesser concern, compared to other endangered species.

Freedom for Animals has urged the aquarium's parent company, Merlin Entertainments, to end all penguin breeding programmes, stop penguin exhibits and guarantee the move of their current penguins to an independently operated sanctuary.

A Sea Life spokesman said: "The gentoo penguin habitat at Sea Life London Aquarium was designed with help and advice from specialist vets.

"It provides an excellent balance of water and land for the penguins, which enables them to express their normal behaviours and there is space for them to ensure they have sufficient privacy."