On a brisk Sunday morning in Westminster, the usually tranquil banks of the Thames were alive with the sound of protest. Hundreds of animal welfare campaigners, celebrities, and environmentalists gathered outside the Sea Life London Aquarium, their collective voices rising in a call to "Free the Fifteen"—a reference to the fifteen gentoo penguins housed in the aquarium’s basement enclosure. The event, organized by Freedom For Animals with support from Born Free and The Express newspaper, marked the largest demonstration yet in a growing movement to end what campaigners describe as the "imprisonment" of these remarkable birds.
The protest, held on October 19, 2025, drew a crowd of between 250 and 300 people, according to BBC, and featured passionate speeches from well-known figures in the British conservation and environmental scene. Among them were naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham, conservationist Megan McCubbin, musician-turned-environmentalist Feargal Sharkey, and green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince. Their message was clear: the penguins, who have spent up to 14 years in a windowless, subterranean enclosure, deserve better.
"It’s heartbreaking to think that these remarkable penguins, birds built for icy seas and vast skies, are confined to a windowless London basement. Penguins don’t belong in prisons," said Chris Packham, addressing the crowd and the press. According to Born Free, Packham described the enclosure as "a blight on the reputation of London’s attractions," adding, "Today, we’ve sent a message loud and clear; the public will not accept the exploitation of animals for profit under the guise of entertainment. It’s time to ‘Free the 15!’"
The Sea Life London Aquarium first opened its penguin exhibit in May 2011, when it introduced ten gentoo penguins from Edinburgh Zoo. Over the years, that number has grown to fifteen, with some birds, like Polly and Ratchet, having once experienced the outdoors before spending more than a decade underground. Others, such as Gilbert and Ziggy, have never seen the sky, campaigners told Born Free.
The conditions at the aquarium have become a lightning rod for criticism. The penguins’ habitat, campaigners argue, is a far cry from their natural environment. In the wild, gentoo penguins are the fastest swimmers among their kind, reaching speeds of 22 mph and diving to depths of over 600 feet. Yet, at Sea Life London, their pool is just six to seven feet deep—a fraction of the space they need to thrive. "These penguins are denied the most basic of freedoms: light, air, space. It’s shameful, it’s unnecessary, and it must end," said Feargal Sharkey, as quoted by BBC and Born Free. "Just as we fight for our rivers, we must fight for wildlife."
Merlin Entertainments, the British theme park giant that owns the aquarium, is co-run by Blackstone Group, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Kirkbi—the investment arm of the Lego family. The company also operates major attractions across the UK, including Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor, Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures. In a statement, a spokesperson for Sea Life London Aquarium defended the enclosure, stating it was "designed with help and advice from specialist vets" and "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."
Packham, however, flatly rejected this defense. "I could get some specialist architects to build you and me a house in an asbestos factory – we wouldn’t want to live in it, would we? It’s bulls***," he told Metro, making clear his view that the enclosure is fundamentally unsuitable. "We’ve learned sufficiently enough about their behavioural, physiological and ecological needs to know that if you’re going to keep these animals in captivity at all, you need a custom-built facility, and it’s certainly not one that’s in the bunker of a building underground, where they never see sunlight and they never get fresh air. It’s not acceptable, they’ve got to move them."
The campaigners’ demands are specific and uncompromising. They are calling on Merlin Entertainments to end its penguin breeding programs, permanently stop exhibiting penguins, and guarantee the safe retirement of all penguins at Sea Life London to a more suitable facility—such as the outdoor enclosures at London or Edinburgh Zoos. Packham argued that this would be "a win-win-win: win for the penguins, win for the zoos who could afford to update their facilities further, and a win for Merlin because they could clear their conscience which is otherwise blighted by this hideous, hideous condition of these birds."
The protest was not without its moments of drama and pointed challenge. Feargal Sharkey, always ready with a sharp turn of phrase, dared Merlin Entertainments’ new chief executive Fiona Eastwood to "swap places with the penguins." Sharkey pledged, "In fact, if she’s prepared to actually spend a month down there with those penguins, I will donate £1,000 of my money to a charity of her choosing." He went on to call the current situation "idiotic," telling BBC and Metro, "There is no reason that they should be benefiting at all from imprisoning 15 birds in the basement of an old council building. It’s a nonsense, and it’s got to stop."
The protest’s impact was amplified by the scale of public support. According to Born Free, the Free The Fifteen campaign has already secured 15,000 petition signatures and garnered cross-party political backing. Freedom For Animals, which launched the campaign in January 2024, emphasizes that gentoo penguins are not classified as an endangered species, raising questions about the justification for breeding and keeping them in captivity at all. As one campaign spokesperson put it, "There is no reason to breed and keep them in captivity."
Sea Life aquariums, for their part, point to their broader conservation efforts. This year’s stocktake counted more than 30,000 sea creatures across 11 UK centers, and the company maintains that it is "committed to supporting conservation causes globally." Yet, for many at Sunday’s protest, these assurances ring hollow in the face of the penguins’ daily reality. Dale Vince, speaking to Born Free, summed up the mood: "Locking penguins in a basement is the very opposite of conservation. It teaches us nothing about nature or how to respect it. It is simply cruelty, marketed as family fun. Today, proves the public are ready for change, and as a business Merlin must listen and act. These fifteen penguins deserve a life, not a life sentence."
As the sun set over Westminster, the chants and placards slowly faded, but the campaign’s momentum shows no sign of slowing. For the fifteen gentoo penguins beneath the city, the fight for freedom continues—buoyed by a growing chorus of voices demanding change, and a public unwilling to let their plight be ignored.
