Mystic Aquarium

Today will quite possibly be one of my favorite memories of all time! Margaret brought me to see a release of 17 African penguins that had been rehabilitated at SANCCOB and it was the perfect way to celebrate the New Year. This release also took place at Boulders Beach which I now think might be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There's no question where the beach got its name. It's surrounded be enormous boulders and on and around these boulders stood African penguins. It was the perfect place to release 17 more!

One of the penguins released was given the name Snowball because the feathers on his back were white with black spots instead of a solid black back typical of most African penguins. I was most excited to see his release because I had heard stories about him from Laurie and Tracy when they talked about their trips to SANCCOB. Snowball initially ran under the boardwalk on the beach, but then he went straight into the waves and swam away. He was brought to SANCCOB for rehabilitation from Boulders and now he was home.

The rest of the group consisted of two more adults and 14 juveniles. The adults headed into the water right away. The juveniles however stayed together on the beach for a while before heading into the ocean as a group. It was a magnificent sight watching those youngsters head into the water.

Even though I had only worked at SANCCOB one day so far, seeing the release brought everything full circle for me. Seeing these penguins released makes all of the hard work that goes into caring for them so worth it. I couldn't wait to get back to SANCCOB for my next shift!