GALVESTON — Moody Gardens is mourning the loss of one of its most beloved residents, a northern rockhopper penguin named Hendrix, who spent more than two decades delighting guests and staff alike.

Hendrix arrived at Moody Gardens in 2004 from the Biodome de Montréal when he was about six months old. He came alongside his sister, Marley, who still lives at the aquarium. Both penguins were named after famous rock stars, but according to aquarium staff, Hendrix truly lived up to the name.

“He was extremely people-oriented,” said Diane Olsen, curator of the aquarium at Moody Gardens. “He loved being around the keepers and the guests. He was very engaging — a bit of a goofball. He really was our rock star.”

Hendrix quickly became a favorite in the aquarium’s popular penguin encounter program, where guests could meet penguins up close. Olsen said he helped make the program a success, leaving lasting impressions on countless visitors over the years.

“Anybody who met him fell in love with him,” she said. “We had some beautiful tributes when we posted that he passed. He definitely made an impression on everybody he met.”

Known for his playful and vocal personality, Hendrix had a few quirks that keepers and guests came to love. He was fascinated by jangling keys and was often heard calling out to his caretakers.

“All the birds eat the same diet, so he didn’t have food favorites,” Olsen said. “But he loved attention and interaction. He was very talkative.”

In recent months, Hendrix had been dealing with health issues that worsened in the final weeks of his life. Olsen said penguin care staff had been managing intermittent concerns for about six months before his condition became critical. A specific diagnosis has not yet been confirmed.

Moody Gardens shared news of Hendrix’s passing through a social media tribute but does not create physical memorials for animals. Still, his absence is deeply felt by the team who cared for him daily.

Olsen agreed that it’s going to be sadder around here for a while. “You see them all the time, you work with them — it’s like losing a member of the family.”

Hendrix was part of a colony of 107 penguins at Moody Gardens. As a northern rockhopper penguin — a species held in only a few institutions — he will not be directly replaced. Aquariums typically coordinate bird placements cooperatively based on space and conservation needs rather than replacing individuals.

His sister Marley continues to carry on the family’s outgoing legacy. Olsen described her as just as personable, noting that Marley recently gained international attention by placing third in “Penguin Internationals: March of the Penguin Madness,” an online popularity contest that drew global fans.

While guests will no longer see Hendrix hopping across the rocks or calling out to keepers, his impact will remain part of Moody Gardens’ history — and in the memories of the many visitors who met the aquarium’s unforgettable “rock star.”