Release!!

Again, SO MUCH TO REPORT ON and so very little time! Things have been pretty bonkers lately!

Starting right off, I went on a penguin release on Tuesday, December 30th! I'm currently cutting a short video of it for SANCCOB, and then will have a short video about it to post on the blog. It'll have to wait a bit though, for 1) the internet connection here pretty much stops and laughs at me when I try to upload video, and 2) not nearly enough time to edit! Too busy with penguins and pelicans and cormarinds and heaps of birds I don't even know the names of!
Fellow volunteers, Nadine and Chrissy, on the boat with the birds at our feet.

Anyway, the release. It. Was. Awesome! We had 11 birds from Pen 10 go, including
487!! My guy with moxy!! We started the morning off going through the normal routine at SANCCOB, which for me included carrying a lady pelican and weighing her. Around 11, we loaded the birds into boxes and put them in the back of a van to be driven down to the V&A Waterfront. Then, we caught a tourist boat to Robben Island. There were about 50/60 other passengers on the boat (that were interested in the penguins, at least). As we waited on the dock to load up, little kids kept walking by and looking in the boxes, and the other two volunteers that went with me and I had to warn them that the penguins were very mean, and bit very, very hard. I think they thought we were just B-S-ing until I rolled up my sleeves and they could see the claw marks down my arms. That scared a few kids away. I've found I'm good at that - scaring kids.
My baby, 487, in his box on the way back to the ocean!!

So to make a long story short (which will also soon be redudant if I ever finish the release video), we took the boat out to Robben Island, and dumped the boxes off the back of the boat while tourists watched us. I think they'll have more pictures of us dumping birds into the sea that I do. Actually, I know that, as I didn't take any pictures because I was dumping birds into the sea! It was a great feeling though, watching them swim away from us. I imagine it was how what a parent dropping a kid off at kindergarden on their first day would feel, proud and then terrified as they drove away. But instead of bullies and inept teachers, I was scared of seals and sharks.

So this was the emotional high. The next couple of days were not quite so encouraging. Things got a bit hairy in ICU, and we had a couple of sad moments when a few birds had to be put down. There was a kelp gull who had an internal wound that was being eaten by maggots - we were lucky to catch it and save the guy a few more days of awful pain; a gorgeous eagle owl with a completely shattered wing who was put down; and the worst, a penguin from pen 10 who had contracted really awful penguin malaria. This all coupled with the arrival of my newest favorite, (497, whom I'll write an entire entry on later - complete with the gruesome photos), made for quite an emotional New Years Day. He was attacked by a seal and has two huge gashes down to the bone and muscle in his neck. They say it'll take him upwards of 6 months to heal. We've taken to calling him Confetti, because he's all ripped up.

But it hasn't been all grim at SANCCOB, actually it's been fairly fun and easy going, with the exception of ICU. We've got the second baby Kelp Gull in the history of the place that we're also taking care of. This guys name is Riot, and he is a chirping machine.
He fits in the palm of my hand. Every time I've picked him up, he poops in my hand. It's supposed to be good luck when a bird drops one on you, right? If that's the case - I'm pretty much covered in luck all day every day.

And in other fun news, this little guy, 491, has taken to escaping from the Pen 2 pool. For the last few mornings we've come in, he's out of the pool, sitting on a rock. It took a couple of days to figure out, but the picture below is how get gets out.

He shimmys his body up the gate that leads from the pen into the pool, and climbs over the top of the side. We've caught him in the act a few times - and yes, there is video of it on its way. It's pretty hilarious to watch. And it doesn't matter how quickly we catch him and put him back, the minute he gets in the water, he promptly goes straight for the gate and shimmys out. It's rigged now with a bit of fencing, so he can't climb out. We'll see tomorrow morning if he's out smarted us and busts out again.

Must get to bed now, but resolving to post more frequently! Not calling it a New Years Resolution, though. Those are made to be broken.