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afrol.com, 21 July - "Should it not have been of concerted team effort South Africa will not have been able to pull together an operation that has effectively saved a large portion of the World's penguin population." South African Environment Minister Moosa said in Cape Town yesterday at a ceremony to mark the return of the penguin colony that was evacuated from Dassen and Robben Islands. Given that these Island supports 40 percent of the World Population - this was the biggest environmental rescue operation of its kind, that has ever been undertaken in the world. Minister Moosa said that this says to the World we are country that cares for its biodiversity. The Minister hailed efforts of a large contingency of volunteers who to this very day are at the forefront of caring for penguins that have been oiled " These are citizens that have made the country proud." The actual rescue operation of the penguin was decided upon by a joint committee of environmental stakeholders after it became clear that due to the oil spill, a large number of penguins were at risk of being oiled and that, unless steps were taken to prevent birds from becoming oiled, the number of oiled birds would exceed the capacity of SANCCOB (Southern African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) to care for. Between June 28 and 11 July more than 20000 African Penguins were transported from Robben and Dassen islands to Cape Recife near Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape, and released there. Releases were supervised by staff of Bayworld, Port Elizabeth and The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). The straight line distances that penguins have to swim from Cape Recife to return to Robben and Dassen islands are 778 and 814 km respectively. It was anticipated that the time the birds would take to return to their home islands would provide valuable "breathing space" for SANCCOB to cope with those penguins that were oiled, which at July 16 amounted to about 23000 birds. This was also to ensure that the clean up operation co-ordinated by the DEAT and coastal municipalities can deal with the oil that had come ashore and posed a threat to the environment. Of these oiled birds, about 1000 have died, a mortality far less than encountered after the Apollo Sea spill. A much higher mortality would have resulted had the number of oiled penguins risen above 30000. The Minister described the operation as a "worthy experiment" and "a near miracle - an example of what co-operation amongst sectors of civil society can do". Now all our theories about these birds having a strong homing instinct have been proven true in full view of the World through the World Wide Web. The Minister concluded by expressing ' heartfelt gratitude' to the staff from Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Robben Island Museum, Cape Nature Conservation Board, SANCCOB, ADU, WWF-SA, IFAW and other organisations involved with the rescue of the penguins will be present.
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