There is a flurry of egg-citement at St Andrews Aquarium this Easter as Andi a Humboldt penguin named in honour of Andy Murray winning Wimbledon in 2013 has laid her first eggs.
Guarding and keeping her precious little bundles warm, Andi and the aquarium family are looking forward to, potentially, meeting the first baby penguins at the visitor attraction.
It is hoped the winning mentality and current success of Andy, the tennis player, having just achieved his 500th career win, will rub off on Andi, the penguin, with some cute, furry chicks being game, set and hatched.
Arriving at the aquarium in July 2013, a competition was run to name the new additions.
Andi was named in honour of Andy Murray after his historic Wimbledon Championship title win.
Three other Humboldt penguin arrivals were named after other members of the Murray family, including Andy’s fiance Kim, grandmother Shirley and mum Judy.
Since then, Judy has been to the aquarium to meet her “doppelganger”, Judy the penguin. With Andy and Kim due to marry this month, they are hoping there may be a “hatch” to announce just around the time the two tie the knot.
Aquarium manager John Mace said: “This is truly cracking news, that Andi the penguin has laid some eggs. It was very unexpected, as the penguins are still quite young.
“Everyone at St Andrews Aquarium is rooting for the eggs to hatch and we are doing everything to provide Andi with a relaxed environment for her to nurture her eggs and keep them warm.”
The aquarium has started an extensive winter refurbishment project, including the introduction of a new, bespoke 360-degree dome tank in the tropical and marine area.
John added: “As well as welcoming spider crabs and dwarf crocodiles to our aquarium family in recent weeks, we invested £30,000 during the winter to further enhance the aquarium experience for visitors. New signage, a new, great British shark and ray tank, as well as our new, state of the art dome tank, are just some of the exciting changes we have made.
“We are looking forward to welcoming lots of new visitors and, fingers crossed, there may be some little, penguin-shaped bundles of joy to see.”