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The flightless birds that survived spent six weeks being looked after and cleaned by experts.
They have now been set free on Mt Maunganui beach.
The blue penguins, the smallest species of penguin in the world, were found a
few days after the maritime catastrophe which hit the once pristine beaches
of Mount Manganui and Papamoa.
Oil leaked from the Liberian-flagged Rena, stranded 12 nautical miles off the
coast, created a three-mile (5km) slick.
The flightless birds that survived spent six weeks being looked after and cleaned by experts.
They have now been set free on Mt Maunganui beach.
Waddle ... Blue Penguins back on the beach after oil spill hits New Zealand coast in October
Pppperky ... the Blue Penguins are released by rescuers after being cleaned up following New Zealand oil disaster
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Recovered penguins released to the sea
Close to 50 little survivors of the Rena oil spill have hit
the water once again, after being released back into the wild
today.
This morning 49 little blue penguins were released at Mt
Maunganui, after being in the care of the National Oiled
Wildlife centre since the cargo vessel Rena ran
aground on Astrolabe Reef on October 5.
The stricken vessel spilled tonnes of heavy oil and
containers into the ocean, sparking clean up efforts across
the Bay of Plenty coastline and raising fears for wildlife in
the area.
About 350 people turned up to watch the penguins' return to
the wild today, marking a milestone in the clean up efforts.
Environment Minister Nick Smith said the penguin release was
a significant milestone in the Bay of Plenty's recovery from
the Rena oil spill and environmental disaster.
"It is a heart-warming experience after the devastating scene
of oiled and dead birds to see these healthy penguins
returning to their natural habitat. The wildlife response to
this disaster has been first class.''
Helen McConnell of the National Oiled Wildlife Response Team
advised that close to 300 penguins are still under care at
the wildlife response centre, along with two pied shags and
60 NZ dotterels.
"The remaining birds will be released once they have returned
to full health and their habitat is clean ... We are ready to
respond if anything new occurs.''
The wildlife team will continue to monitor the birds
following their release as they re-orient themselves in their
original habitats.
Salvors on board the Rena are continuing to steadily remove
containers from the vessel, and have cleared two container
bays.
A Maritime New Zealand spokesman said as of early this
afternoon, 13 more containers had been taken off the vessel
which brought the total up to 84.
He said salvors would now start on the refrigerated
containers, and the bay behind the bridge superstructure.
The Sea Tow 60 continues to operate at the stern of the
Rena, where small amounts of fuel oil are being
stripped from the starboard tank.
A light sheen of oil continues to sit downwind from
Rena, but is not the result of any new oil source, he
said.
Work continues with the beach clean-up, including a surf
washing process that has been successful in cleaning oil from
the sand.
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