How you can help save endangered penguins
Visit centre and witness release back into ocean
HELP save the endangered African penguin with a visit to Port Elizabeth’s South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (Samrec). The volunteers at this Marine Drive eco-centre rescue tired, dehydrated and injured marine birdlife that have been stranded along the coast and, with the amount of pollution in the ocean, it’s becoming an increasingly important job.
Samrec is a super place to visit over the summer holidays as it is geared towards educating children – and grown-ups! – on marine life.
If you get a chance to watch a penguin release, grab it – it’s not every day that you get to see the guys in the original penguin suits head home to the ocean. Try to time your visit to catch the afternoon feed at 2.30 but the centre is open from 9am to 4pm most days (closed Christmas and New Year holidays).
You might wonder why these cute black-and-white birds need protecting. Well, Samrec says that, in the last 50 years, the African penguin population has declined by 91%, leaving an estimated total population of 45 000.
“Researchers have predicted that this species will be extinct in the wild by 2025, making our work incredibly important,” a spokesman said. “We try our best to bring these creatures back to full health so we can release them back into the wild as soon as possible.”
Samrec tries to create awareness not just of the plight of the penguins, but of the impact humans are having on the entire marine environment.
In term time, you will often find school groups visiting and there is a “touch” room which is perfect for tactile exploration.
You can have a bite to eat at the Flying Penguin Cafe, where each table is a mini-viewing spot with sea treasures under the glass table-tops, visit the large rehabilitation pool or stroll across the road to the beach.
You must have a permit to go into the Cape Recife reserve but your en- try fee to the penguin facility also acts as a “ticket” to the reserve.
Admission is R20 for children and pensioners and R30 for adults. Don’t forget to ask the reception desk to stamp your pass for the Cape Recife conservancy at the same time.
Contact Samrec at (041) 583-1830 in office hours or 084-587-8346 after hours, or e-mail info@samrec.org.za