It was a case of birds of a different feather for sea rescuers on Saturday who had to rush to the rescue of oiled penguins.
The National Sea Rescue Institute crew at Port Elizabeth‚ which is usually called in to aid human beings stricken at sea‚ was asked by SA NATIONAL Parks (SANParks) rangers and the SA Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to assist in a search and recovery oiled African Penguins at St Croix Island and the adjacent smaller Jaheel and Brenton islands.
The islands lie off-shore of the deepwater port of Ngqura at Algoa Bay in Port Elizabeth.
During the past week SANParks and SANCCOB had reportedly recovered a number of oiled penguins washed up on beaches in the area which were suspected to have been oiled from an oil spill believed to have occurred during a ship to ship oil transfer that is still under investigation by the South African Maritime Safety Authority.
“NSRI‚ SANCCOB and SANParks recovered 47 penguins (32 adult and 15 chicks) in Saturday’s operation which started at 8am and was completed at around 1.45pm.
They were located and recovered from St Croix Island and Jaheel Island. No affected penguins were located on Brenton Island‚” said Ian Gray‚ NSRI station commander at Port Elizabeth.
“We circled the islands looking for affected penguins and once located we put rescue teams ashore over rocks to safely capture the penguins. The operation was made difficult by rough sea conditions.
“The penguins were brought into the Port of Ngqura aboard the sea rescue craft and aboard the SANParks craft and they have been transported to treatment centres at SAMREC (SA Marine Rehabilitation Centre) in Port Elizabeth and SANCCOB in Cape St Francis‚” he added.
Sea rescuers rescue oiled penguins near Port Elizabeth
It was a case of birds of a different feather for sea rescuers on Saturday who had to rush to the rescue of oiled penguins.
The National Sea Rescue Institute crew at Port Elizabeth‚ which is usually called in to aid human beings stricken at sea‚ was asked by SA NATIONAL Parks (SANParks) rangers and the SA Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to assist in a search and recovery oiled African Penguins at St Croix Island and the adjacent smaller Jaheel and Brenton islands.
The islands lie off-shore of the deepwater port of Ngqura at Algoa Bay in Port Elizabeth.
During the past week SANParks and SANCCOB had reportedly recovered a number of oiled penguins washed up on beaches in the area which were suspected to have been oiled from an oil spill believed to have occurred during a ship to ship oil transfer that is still under investigation by the South African Maritime Safety Authority.
“NSRI‚ SANCCOB and SANParks recovered 47 penguins (32 adult and 15 chicks) in Saturday’s operation which started at 8am and was completed at around 1.45pm.
They were located and recovered from St Croix Island and Jaheel Island. No affected penguins were located on Brenton Island‚” said Ian Gray‚ NSRI station commander at Port Elizabeth.
“We circled the islands looking for affected penguins and once located we put rescue teams ashore over rocks to safely capture the penguins. The operation was made difficult by rough sea conditions.
“The penguins were brought into the Port of Ngqura aboard the sea rescue craft and aboard the SANParks craft and they have been transported to treatment centres at SAMREC (SA Marine Rehabilitation Centre) in Port Elizabeth and SANCCOB in Cape St Francis‚” he added.
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