The great penguin rescue

What can one person do to make a difference? Watch this video to learn what one person learned -- and did -- to help save a species

 
African penguins, Spheniscus demersus, Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England.

Image: Adrian Pingstone (public domain).



When an oil tanker sank off the coast from Cape Town, South Africa, earlier this year, it spilled 1,300 tonnes of fuel between Dassen and Robben Islands where half of the world's population of the endangered African penguin, Spheniscus demersus, breeds. Of course, as happens with these events, the tanker sank during the penguins' breeding season, coating tens of thousands of birds in crude oil -- a significant proportion of the remaining breeding population.
What to do with these birds? Predictably, the ongoing "kill or not to kill" controversy flared up again, but due to the location and timing of the spill and this species' endangered status, the stakes were higher than ever before. As always, some advocated killing the oiled birds.

"Kill, don't clean," German biologist, Silvia Gaus, had remarked after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico one year earlier. "The survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent."
Ms Gaus's comments outraged the public. Ms Gaus's comments outraged me, too, because when I investigated her assertion, I found Ms Gaus was wrong.

In the wake of this controversy, the largest animal rescue event in history mobilised to save tens of thousands of oiled birds. And in fact, more than 91% of the oiled penguins were successfully rehabilitated and released -- an amazing feat that could not have been accomplished without the tremendous international response that was generated. In this video, we hear from Dyan deNapoli, who spearheaded the response effort:


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Dyan "the Penguin Lady" deNapoli worked as the Senior Penguin Aquarist at Boston's New England Aquarium, where she hand-raised dozens of penguin chicks, presented daily programmes about penguins to aquarium visitors, and traveled the globe to work with penguin researchers in the field.
Now Ms deNapoli frequently writes on penguin topics and has served as the onboard penguin expert and guest lecturer on cruise ships visiting the Galapagos Islands and Antarctica. She estimates she has taught about 250,000 people in the US and abroad about penguins.

Dyan deNapoli is the author of the book, The Great Penguin Rescue: 40,000 Penguins, a Devastating Oil Spill, and the Inspiring Story of the World's Largest Animal Rescue [Amazon UK; Amazon US] and she can be found on facebook and twitter @ThePenguinLady

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