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Home Newsroom South African Penguin Blog
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Saving the Penguins in South Africa

Read the blog of three Mystic Aquarium staff members as they worked at the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in South Africa November 2012 through January 2013. They were there to help hand-rear over 300 abandoned African penguin chicks and prepare them for survival in the ocean. The African penguin population is endangered and has declined over 60% since 2001.

Supervisor of Penguins and Pinnipeds Laurie Macha, Senior Trainer of Penguins and Pinnipeds Tracy Camp, and Penguin Trainer Josh Davis each spent two weeks at SANCCOB. Travel expenses for Laurie, Tracy and Josh were made possible through funds raised by Mystic Aquarium's annual Penguin Run/Walk held each October.

Scroll down to read blog postings dated back to 2010.



December 15, 2010 - Sarah Dunn

Today I worked in pen 1 with Niki, which includes baldies and chesties. Baldies are chicks that have lost their feathers and are in the process of re-growing them and chesties have some congestion of some sort when they breathe. Niki was kind to me and took care of the most of the chesties which required administering medications. I mainly took care of the healthiest of this group, about 15 or so of them.

Read more...
 

December 14, 2010 - Sarah Dunn

Today I worked in ICU and again I was able to pick up on bit more of this routine since it was my second day in a row. Lucy was the supervisor of the day in this routine and Candace, one of the SANCCOB staff, helped quite a bit in the morning.

Read more...
 

December 13, 2010 - Sarah Dunn

Day two and three are combined since yesterday was bit of a hard and long day. It began at 8am. Nola was working so I was glad to see a face more familiar to me. Each morning we go over a board which has a plan for the day as far as which pen area each person will be working in. Each area has a person listed as a supervisor and volunteers. Obviously the supervisor being someone that knows a bit more of what is going on. Well, due to a small number of bodies to do the work, my name was listed under supervisor for pen 2.

Read more...
 

December 11, 2010 - Sarah Dunn

Well, I have my first full day under my belt! I started at 8am donning the green slickers and boots. I was assigned to pen 2 working with Neels from France. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but by the afternoon I started to get a sense of routine.

Read more...
 
More Articles...
  • December 10, 2010 - Sarah Dunn
  • December 4, 2010 - Laurie Macha
  • December 3, 2010 - Laurie Macha
  • December 2 - Laurie Macha
  • December 1 - Laurie Macha
  • November 30 - Laurie Macha
  • November 29 - Laurie Macha
  • November 28 - Laurie Macha
  • November 27 - Laurie Macha
  • November 26 - Laurie Macha
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>

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Related Video

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Skittish African Penguins cross a road on Robben Island in South Africa.

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