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Following a plea for help from the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to assist in saving the lives of 129 oiled African penguins off the coast of Luderitz in Namibia, internationally recognized seabird rehabilitater, SANCCOB mobilized its team of experts and volunteers to move the penguins 1 300km to their centre in Cape Town for essential treatment.
African penguins are listed as ‘vulnerable’ to extinction on the Red Data list and there are only 27 000 breeding pairs of these charismatic birds left, down from 4 million within the last century.
The oiled penguins are the result of an oil spill from an unknown source around the Mercury, Ichaboe, Halifax and Possession islands just off the coast of Luderitz. Poor visibility, heavy mists and high swell have made it impossible to determine the cause of the oiling, but according to Jessica Kemper, seabird biologist at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, ‘the water around Mercury Island was frothy with foam’ on Thursday last week and ‘our island technician based there could smell the oil’.
Jessica Kemper and SANCCOB CEO, Venessa Strauss, monitored the situation as it developed and on Thursday 16 April 2009 last week they reached a joint decision to move the birds to SANCCOB rehabilitation centre in Cape Town which is equipped to handle up to 2 000 oiled birds.
On Monday 20 April Venesssa flew up to spearhead the evacuation and to assist Jessica to assess the situation and drove back in the truck with the penguins. Jessica was working from the Ministry’s small seabird rehabilitation station and a shed which had been turned into a makeshift holding pen and was working around the clock with a handful of staff and volunteers to stabilize the penguins in readiness for their epic journey to Cape Town. Due to the working relationship between SANCCOB and the Namibian government, Jessica had essential medication available to perform the initial treatment to save the penguins.
After 19 hours of non-strop travelling Venessa arrived at SANCCOB triumphant where she immediately joined her colleagues to get the ‘Namibian patients’ admitted and to begin the treatment, hydration and the much needed feeding.
To contribute towards the cost of the rehabilitation, you can “Adopt” one of the Namibian penguins!
Please remember that EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS. Visit www.sanccob.co.za to donate and to track the rehabilitation of these charismatic creatures back into the wild.