South Africa
Penguin "Pamela" found and released at Dassen Island

afrol.com, 13 September - After successfully eluding Cape Nature Conservation (CNC) staff for weeks, the penguin "Pamela" was finally captured last Thursday night, September 7. Her little daypack was carefully removed and, after receiving the required medical care, she was given her final release.

Pamela was spotted and captured by Dassen Island foreman, Johny Witbooi and student, Johan Visagie, who had also captured Percy. Weighing in at 3,1kg indicates that Pamela did not take much strain during her swimathon between Cape Recife, Dassen and Dyer Islands.

Pamela's final release was made memorable with the joint release of 335 fledglings originally from Robbin Island. Cape Nature Conservation area manager, Paul Gildenhuys said, "Releasing the birds on Dassen Island means that they will be carefully monitored throughout their stay. It will also be easy for them to adapt to their new surroundings in the company of the penguins from the island, who will no doubt show them the ropes."

Background
Pamela had become the symbol of the Robben and Dassen Island penguin colony disaster. Marked with a numbered flipper band and transmitters, her moves and migrations in response to the oil spills were followed by South African media and public.

Pamela and thousands of other penguins were taken to Port Elizabeth because the sea around Dassen Island was full of oil, and this overland journey prevented them from joining 23 000 oiled penguins. In a three-day operation, nearly 13 000 penguins were moved from Dassen Island to Port Elizabeth, and a further 7 000 were transported there from Robben Island. Most of the 20 000 penguins who made the journey were back on their islands in July. 

Sources: Based on Cape Nature Conservation and WildAfrica.Net

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