(SANCCOB) Is a World Leader in Seabird Rehabilitation

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is a world leader in seabird rehabilitation. Since it was found- ed in 1968, it has treated more than 94,000 oiled, ill, injured or abandoned African penguins and other threatened seabirds, an operation that has de- pended upon a wealth of willing hands and hearts.

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL-SAMANTHA OWEN/naturepl.com “You don’t really just ‘go’ to SANCCOB. You plunge in”.

Even with an infectious air of hope, and the knowledge that the centre releases hun- dreds of seabirds back into the wild each year, the experience is still overwhelming. Birds arrive daily, delivering tangible mes- sages of the impact that we are having on the Earth. New admissions are sick, be- draggled, malnourished and dehydrated to varying degrees, and almost all are victims of human-induced factors, such as climate

by 95 percent over the past century. If African penguins could indeed tap out a tune I fear it would be a blues refrain, lamenting their struggle to find enough fish to feed themselves and their offspring, and the tidal wave of pollution they have to ride every day. Per- haps a few would even bray about the days during the mid 1800s and early 1900s when egg collectors invaded their nests and guano diggers scraped clean the “white gold”, vital layers of burrowing material that coated their breeding habitats, to sell as fertilis- er. Though these practices were banned in South Africa, they had already delivered the first big blow to the penguin population. In 1910 there were more than 1.5 million (possibly 3 million) African penguins. Today fewer than 26,000 pairs waddle change, habitat destruction, ocean pollution, stiff-legged along beaches in Namibia and over-fishing. Some are rescued as chicks and South Africa, and their place on the from near starvation in wild penguin colonies IUCN Endangered list means that your in the Cape; others are found washed up, last chance to see wild penguins in Af- weak and exhausted. Many are suffocating rica may arrive within the next 50 years. under a thick wrapping of black oil. The staff and volunteers at SANCCOB endeavour to restore birds to health and, when possible, release these feathered survivors back into the wild. The history of how and why these seabirds arrived here deserves to be told, as it is indicative of the global environmental changes that are taking place around us. Studies have shown the population of African penguins is 19 percent higher than it would have been without the SANCCOB’s efforts, but numbers have nevertheless plummeted pon arrival of the rescued duties. It isn’t a holiday camp, and birds, SANCCOB’s rehabili- it is not about cuddling penguins. tation team, comprising of “Be warned!” says Dr Nola Parsons, Ustaff and volunteers, quick- SANCCOB’s veterinarian, “Penguins ly sets in motion the protocol for new and other seabirds are wild animals admissions. Patients are weighed, and will bite given the opportunity!” examined, syringe-fed rehydration But what are a few nips and bruises cocktails, and given vitamin injec- when you’re putting a bird back on tions before being dusted with an- the wing or its feet! Indeed, a bird’s ti-parasite powder and assigned to feistiness may help it to survive af- pens, the chick rearing unit (CRU) or ter being released from captivity. Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Antibiot- SANCCOB’s rehabilitation success ics and ointments are administered rate is the highest in the world, to sick birds (those with infections with around 90% of their penguin or breathing difficulties for exam- patients being released back into ple), as per the veterinarian’s in- the wild and over 50% of flying structions. Coordination is key, and birds (which are harder to reha- everyone is responsible for his or her bilitate) taking to the skies again. strict daily routine and task list for tricky skill, as fish milkshakes doesn’t seem to those on duty ensures that each in- slide down as well as our vanilla favourites. dividual creature receives the atten- Where there are seabirds, there is muck, and A tion required for its recovery. “Ev- a major part of life at SANCCOB revolves ery day is different and definitely not easy”, around bio-security – disinfecting and clean- says Lucy Burge, a student from Plymouth ing. Volunteers scrub mats, crates, pens, University. “You will be stretched and worked pools, in fact almost everything…continually. but if you know and understand the reasons To get the right shot, I often had to lie at behind everything you do, you won’t mind!” ground level, and more than once I’ve expe- Birds need to be fed, hydrated and medicat- rienced a missile of warm, fishy, liquid guano ed around the clock, and each pen has an on my face and camera. Cleaning is a serious allocated swim time. Very few birds are ‘free- business, and you need to learn to live with the feeders’; most have to be force-fed whole sar- smell of fish. Most people who have dipped dines or pilchards, a messy business for first into life here, however, find it worthwhile. timers. During one feeding session, I clicked “To know that you have helped even one the shutter button when a particularly cheeky bird regain its place in the wild, or even to penguin spat its sardine out at my lens – have assisted in saving that creature’s life, photographic proof of their obstinate feed- is an amazing feeling in itself,” Burge states. ing behaviour in captivity. Tubing is another

Syringes filled with rehydration solution After the messy affair of feeding time, penguins are sprayed with water. But the smell of fish and guano is not one that can easily be washed away! he first character I met at the centre was “Rocky”. Waddling free, she was T welcomed into offices and was everyone’s favourite tour guide. This female rockhopper penguin presented an enigma when she was found in a boat near the town of Hermanus. Far outside of her natural range (the sub-Antarc- tic), she was most probably an inad- vertent stow-away or was perhaps bird- napped – either for entertain- ment or the pot, by a crew passing or adult who didn’t fall for Rocky’s through the Southern Ocean. Sad- charms, such as her loud honks or ly, returning her home was not an attempts to nibble at imaginary option, for she could endanger the bugs on your skin. “There’s a pen- wild colony by spreading foreign guin on my pelican!” I would say as diseases to her very sensitive and she hopped on my pelican-branded untouched homelands. Today this equipment case, and to this day my celebrated bird is an ambassador camera very proudly sports blotch- for her kin, helping with conserva- es of Rocky’s guano. Without doubt, tion education and reminding us her most critical role is revitalizing that we are all inhabitants of the and strengthening the bonds be- same planet. I never met a child tween birds and people. already interfered with nature. “In the race wallowed up to the armpit by thick to save a species, he says, “this life counts.” coastal scrub, Cuan McGeorge Why breeding and moulting seasons are gently rummages in the under- not perfectly synchronized scientists cannot S growth for a penguin chick that explain, but Stony Point is the only colony he’s had his eye on. As the warden of the with a population that has increased sub- Stony Point Nature Reserve in Betty’s Bay, stantially (from about 110 to 950 breed- about an hour outside Cape Town, Mc- ing pairs) since 2001. The last breeding George monitors the condition of chicks in pair disappeared from Lambert’s Bay in the penguin colony and knows exactly which 2006, and the colonies at other locations ones are growing fat and fluffy and which are hanging on by their webbed toes: the ones are not. The ones in poor condition Boulders Beach colony has dropped from are quite often abandoned chicks, which are

brought to SANCCOB to be hand- reared. McGeorge explains, “Late breeders often 1054 to 444, Robben Island’s from 8000 start to moult before their chicks can fend to 1800 and Dassen Island’s from 25,000 for themselves, and since a moulting pen- to 4,000 – and all within the last ten years. guin cannot swim and catch fish, the young- The dangers to African penguins: overfishing, sters would starve to death without help. climate change and pollution are not easy to It isn’t easy deciding whether to remove a define. “It’s complicated,” says Richard Sher- chick from the colony – meddling with na- ley, a biologist at the University of Cape Town ture can have repercussions we don’t un- who studies penguins on Robben Island, “the derstand.” With the weak chick safely tucked species’ free fall is the result of a range of under his arm, he talks to tourists about pressures, there isn’t one simple explanation.” the perils seabirds face, and how we have uring the early sum- in rearing seabird chicks”, says Dr mer months of 2006 and Nola Parsons. “The birds which are 2007, large numbers of housed in the Chick Rearing Unit, Hartlaub’s Gull chick being African penguin chicks and the people and expertise that D hand-reared at SANCCOB’s were abandoned by their moult- are contained within it represent chick-rearing unit. ing parents. SANCCOB and oth- a part of SANCCOB’s commitment er partners decided to intervene to saving seabirds under threat”. by rescuing, hand-rearing and re- The overall release rate for hand leasing these orphaned chicks. reared chicks at SANCCOB is 82%, Since 2006, SANCCOB has ad- which means approximately 2,000 mitted and subsequently reared chicks have been successfully reared a total of 2,407 chicks, of which and released during the last 5 years. 2,042 chicks were from moult- Research suggests that introduction ing parents. The new Chick Rear- of fledgling chicks has a significant ing Unit was opened in 2011 impact on conserving wild pop- to help cope with this demand. ulations. Chicks which have been “The Chick Rearing Unit is a real hand reared and released have milestone in terms of increasing shown higher survivorship and SANCCOB’s capability and expertise breeding success than other birds. sary to keep the eggs at a constant tempera- ture and humidity in a controlled environment, namely an incubator. When the staff at the Chick Rearing Unit see the first sign of hatch- ing (a visible external crack), the egg is trans- s well as rearing or- ferred to a brooder for the hatch- phaned chicks, SANC- ing process to take place, which COB collects abandoned normally takes up to 48 hours. A eggs from wild colonies. In the brooder, the eggs are pre- Many of the eggs arriving at the vented from rolling whilst hatch- centre are compromised due to the ing and the humidity is increased cooling period, handling and trans- significantly. Once the chick cracks portation. In order to maximise the shell SANCCOB staff feed the the chances of survival it is neces- chick a droplet of water every hour.

On average it takes an African penguin egg 38 days to hatch

Eggs are held up to the beam of a torch and the vet checks each one to mark the de- velopment of the embryos. SANCCOB staff cater to each

penguin’s individual needs. Twinkles, who has a

deformedexercised back and with cannot a special walk harness without and assistance, lead. is

ANCCOB is at the forefront of saving African penguins and other threatened seabirds. It never takes a day off and its rehabilitation S team is on 24-hour call. Its specialist emer- gency response skills are shared with the interna- tional community, helping to provide services in Af- rica, the Indian Ocean region, and the Sub-Antarctic. For decades SANCCOB has been training people to take care of seabirds; and through its academy offers formal training. It is a leader in seabird dis- ease research and focuses on improving knowledge that will assist the conservation of seabirds in the wild, and our ability to care for them during the rehabilitation process. It interacts with many thousands of children every year teaching them to understand and appreciate their marine heritage. A penguin with an injured beak is fed fish (sardine or pilchard) by hand the fish had made a comeback, a Food shortage result linked to conservative man- agement practices. Then, in 2001, is the main fac- the sardines disappeared completely, surfacing to the south and tor causing the east, and causing a crash in the penguin populations at Lambert’s decline of South Bay, Malgas and Marcus Islands. An African penguin’s fishing expedi- Africa’s seabirds. tion is limited to about 20km from its colony during breeding season African penguins and Cape gannets and when the fish aren’t there, its share our human appetite for sar- chicks starve. “Breeding adults are dines and anchovies, and compete site faithful, so they will try to return directly with both South African to breed at a site even if feeding and Nambian commercial fisher- conditions get quite poor,” states ies. Throughout the 1950s sardines Richard Sherley, a biologist at the were fished off South Africa’s west University of Cape Town who stud- coast at an increasing and unsus- ies penguins on Robben Island, tainable rate until the annual catch It is a sad ending: Failing to find peaked at around 400,000 tons and enough food, the birds cannot sur- the stocks collapsed. By the 1990s vive through the moulting season”. SANCCOB never takes a day off and its team is on 24-hour call.

To follow the plight of a single bird is a heart- warming experience. This juvenile Cape gannet was one of several birds abandoned by their parents at a colony on Bird Island, Lam- bert’s Bay. After being rescued, they were brought to SANCCOB for rehabilitation. Saving seabirds requires a great amount of dedication and work but when you are watching one return to its natural home the pay-off is even greater. Black Death As if food shortage wasn’t enough which its place of capture, medical to contend with, oil spills are also a history and other details are record- continual threat. During an incident ed. The long and labour intensive in 1993, around 5,000 Cape gan- job of washing and rinsing then be- nets were affected. And few peo- gins. No birds are released until they ple living in South Africa in 2000 are completely free of oil and their can forget the wreck of the Trea- natural waterproofing has returned. sure, which affected 19,000 African penguins when it lost more than 1,000 tons of fuel near Robben Is- land. Such spills, coupled with pass- Oil coated feathers ing ships that regularly and illegally of an African penguin dump contaminated bilge and ballast water into the ocean, ensure that SANCCOB has a never-ending stream of oiled seabirds to care for. Oiled birds arriving at SANCCOB are immediately stabilised, with rehydration solution and charcoal. They are treated with antibiotics to pre- vent eye infection and given an iron injection to counter potential anae- mia brought on by ingestion of oil. Each bird is given a plastic tag with an identity number and a card on was struck by the arrival one After gaining strength, it was al- day of a Cape gannet, which lowed a splash in the pool for exer- had taken an involuntary dip cise and to take the pressure off its I in thick black oil. The greasy weary feet. This didn’t endear it to globules coated the bird’s once- the volunteers who had to empty, bright white feathers, rendering scrub and refill the pool after each their waterproofing useless and dip to ensure the next swimmers leaving the bird susceptible to the soaked in oil-free water. Finally, cold temperatures of the Atlantic washday arrived, and two volun- Ocean. Its vivid blue-rimmed eyes, teers, old (scarred) hands at clean- a signature of the species, had ing birds, were called in. Washing dulled to a gray-blue, and I was an oiled bird starts with a basting drawn to its tragic beauty. From in cooking oil; followed by a bub- that day, I trailed the bird’s for- ble bath, a scrub with toothbrushes, tunes at the centre with my camera. and several rinses. It took three sep- Too weak to be cleaned, the gan- arate washes to rid the bird of oil, net was admitted and left to sleep. but the feathers remained stained. After several laborious washing processes, this Cape gannet finally emerged with near-white, dripping feathers. or drying and warming wet seabirds fast, nothing beats a seabird sauna - an electric heat Flamp over a towelled floor. I sat dripping in this hot tin pen watching its occupant for hours, and in an unforgettable moment, the gannet walked up to me, stretched its wings wide, tucked its beak into its feathers and went to sleep. A few weeks later the recovered beauty was released at sea – eyes to the sky as it soared gracefully above the Atlantic. he birds ready for re- about returning. Eventually, with lease are in good some gentle cajoling from a vol- SAVE OUR SEABIRDS shape…fit, fat and unteer, the birds joined me in the “Thealthy”, says SANC- water, streaking away like two fat How you can help COB’s Conservation Director, Ve- black and white torpedoes. I wished nessa Strauss . “They probably ar- them luck and hoped they wouldn’t • Support SANCCOB by donating or en’t particularly keen on leaving, need SANCCOB’s help again. volunteering: www.sanccob.co.za as the struggle to find food and Canadian naturalist and artist Rob- • Sponsor an artificial African penguin fend for themselves will become ert Bateman once wrote: “It is pre- nest: www.dict.org.za the daily challenge of their lives dicted that over the next hundred • Visit African penguin colonies (Boul- again”. These sentiments echoed in years we will lose 1,200 species of ders Beach near Simon’s Town and my mind as I waited in Table Bay’s birds – or one in eight. They will be Stony Point, near Betty’s Bay). ice-cold waters, ready to photo- gone forever, and without them, • Support Marine Protected Areas graph two African penguins leap- the lives of our descendants will be • Only buy fish that has been certified ing to their freedom. Teetering on bleaker. But we should not despair.” as sustainable the edge of their cargo box, faced Perhaps it’s unrealistic to wish that • Avoid farmed fish. About seven kilo- with the blue yonder, they seemed every last seabird could be saved, grams of wild sardines and anchovies doubtful about returning to their and it is important to realize that are consumed to produce one kilo- natural element. Heading across the rehabilitation is not the solution. gram of farmed fish. bay from Cape Town’s bustling wa- These seabirds are all telling their • Don’t buy dog food made from fish- terfront with our squawking boxes part of a much larger story. The meal (a huge bulk of the sardine catch in tow, I had watched plastic bags signals they have been sending is ground into fishmeal for dog food). disguised as jellyfish swim past the us are clear: the marine ecosys- • Encourage more severe penalties for boat and a rainbow-coloured sheen tem is in trouble. SANCCOB and illegal dumping of bilge and ballast of oil that crept across the surface. other rehabilitation centres across water into the ocean. Life at sea is dangerous. No won- the world are playing their part, • Minimise plastic waste der the penguins were hesitant but we all need to play ours too. Contact: [email protected] +44(0)117 911 4675

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