Living in Cape Town southern peninsula is like being on holiday all the time. There are wonderful beaches, impressive mountains and indigenous vleis to explore and inevitably you will come across a wild animal or two on your adventures which is exactly what happened to us a few months ago.
It was whale watching season and as we were driving along Simonstown road towards Fish Hoek we noticed that the mammoth animals were giving passers-by a real treat as they waved their flippers in the air and crashed their heavy tails onto the surface of the ocean.
We live in Fish Hoek so decided to get out the car at Sunny Cove, watch the whales frolic for a bit and then walk home because it was a beautiful evening too. So we sat for a while “oohing” and ”aahing” as the great elephants of the sea waved at us from the depths. We eventually decided to head home and started to make our way along the road. Just as we walking passed the whale watching site at the end of Jager’s Walk my mom spotted something lying on the rocks by the water; it was a penguin.
We went to take a closer look and when we got near the creature we realised there was something wrong with the bird. It was breathing really quickly and it didn’t even have enough energy to escape if we came too close. We quickly called a friend of ours who lives close by and asked her to take us and the poor penguin to Boulder’s Beach where we hoped that someone could help the distressed animal. It sat on the back seat with my sister and me and allowed us to stroke its soft fur.
Luckily when we arrived at Boulders there was a helpful man called Lennox who explained to us that the penguin was a “blue”; an adolescent. The blues have only just started swimming and they sometimes don’t know when to stop so they often exhaust themselves and get stranded on land where they usually (and sadly) die.
Lennox also explained that the <a href=”http://www.sanccob.co.za/?m=1″>South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds</a> (SANCCOB) were experienced in situations like these and after a simple phone call assured us that the exhausted bird would be fine.
What an adventure! If you ever come across a penguin in a similar state take it straight through to Boulders Beach in Simonstown or call SANCCOB on 021 557 6155. The bird in question will be much obliged.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
