Lifeguard saves lost ‘jackass’ at Scottburgh beach
He added that he was lucky enough to grab the penguin and eventually got it to settle down before taking it back up to the lifesaving club. Upon closer inspection it appeared the penguin was moulting.
AT the Scottburgh Lifesaving Club, it’s not only humans who are looked after – ocean life is a priority too. Early last Sunday morning, December 16, the Pennington Ski-boat Club’s annual Christmas competition was under way when eagle-eyed fishermen aboard a boat spotted a juvenile jackass penguin in the water.
And while most would have given it no more than a passing glance, fortunately some clued-up folk realised that something was wrong as the penguin had become separated from its group.
Local ocean fundi Nigel Eady circulated a WhatsApp message to the surrounding stations asking that if the penguin was spotted again, efforts be made to capture it. The general consensus was that the penguin had probably become caught in a current which had brought it north from Port Elizabeth.
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The bird was next sighted at Scottburgh main beach on Monday afternoon by voluntary lifeguard Elliot Hall, who managed to safely capture it. “I was keeping a beady eye on the bathers and looked left of the bathing area and I saw it in the mid break, on its way to the beach. When it tried to get up on to the sand, some holidaymakers were trying to chase it back into the water. I ran down and it was trying to get away from the children chasing it,” said Elliot.
He added that he was lucky enough to grab the penguin and eventually got it to settle down before taking it back up to the lifesaving club. Upon closer inspection it appeared the penguin was moulting.
Moulting is a process through which birds shed their old feathers to push out new ones.
For penguins however, moulting is also sometimes referred to as a ‘catastrophic moult’ as they shed all their feathers at once. During moulting, penguins stay on land and fast for two to three weeks until their new feathers emerge.
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During this time, they rely on built-up fat reserves to tide them over. It was noted during the capture that the little fella had also suffered a bite wound on its left wing.
The bird has been taken to the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) in Durban where it will undergo rehabilitation. “Big thanks must go to Nigel who called and arranged for ORI to come down to Scottburgh, and to an ORI employee for collecting the bird.”
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