African penguins at the New England Aquarium will live well into their golden years on a new, private island specifically created for aging birds.

Penguins now have a place to go as they get older. More than half of the New England Aquarium’s African penguin colony has met or surpassed their typical life expectancy of 10 – 15 years in the wild. With that in mind, the staff began to modify the exhibit last year to make it more comfortable for the birds in their advanced age.

Some of the penguins at the aquarium are in their 30s, which is double the normal life expectancy of African penguins in the wild.