A decade before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill seared the devastating images of oil-slicked creatures into the public consciousness, there was the iron-ore carrier “Treasure” which sank off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, and spilled 1,300 tons of oil — right next to the nesting habitat of some 75,000 African penguins. But thanks to some of 12,000 dedicated volunteers and professionals who came to their rescue, the spill did far less damage than it should have. Noted penguin expert Dyan deNapoli was the rehabilitation manager during the initial clean up of the spill and reports on this inspiring story in her new book, “The Great Penguin Rescue.”
What made you write this book?
I couldn’t not write it; it’s such a remarkable conservation success story. I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to have this out for the 10-year anniversary of the spill and to draw attention to what was happening to penguins — 14 of the 18 penguins species are now classified as threatened or endangered. Most populations have declined by 90 percent during the last 100 years.
What is the one thing that stuck with you about the rescue?
Just that it was so incredibly grueling — I’ve never hit that level of exhaustion. I’d wake up at 6 in the morning and race off to the warehouse, which had 16,000 penguins in it, and organize the hundreds of volunteers who came in to help. It was the mental and emotional stress to make sure these animals are well taken care of. Just the constant question of, “Are we going to be able to save them?”
