Tara has her hands full at SANCCOB!

Hello all! Well as you can see I have my hands full with a beautiful African Penguin chick...this is just one, we actually have 96 of them which arrived at the weekend! The chicks were rescued from Dyer Island and brought to SANCCOB to be taken care of until they are old enough to be released back into the wild. Unfortunately the chick's parents have started to moult and therefore are no longer able to catch fish for their young, which if left would eventually starve to death! Due to the fact many of them are under-nourished we have the responsibility of feeding and tubing fluids into the young every two hours!
Today I went on my first release, just me, eight Penguins, a Comorant and Darter...it really makes all the guano and bites worth it as you see them back where they belong, although they all looked a bit bewildered by the whole experience and almost jumped back on the boat! Anyway as you can imagine I am having a fantastic experience out here in South Africa with only just over a week to go I will find it hard to say goodbye to this beautiful country with all its beautiful wildlife!

Tara's South African adventure begins!

The Time has come to bid farewell (for now) to all the animals and keepers at the park as I prepare to leave for my South African adventure!

I'm feeling very excited if not a little nervous as I'm sure the wild African Penguins I will be looking after won't be as friendly as 'Dippy', one of our favourite Humboldt Penguins at the park!

Well I have my passport and tickets ready to go, all I have to do is pack my bags, not forgetting the sun cream, and prepare myself for the 12 hour flight to Cape Town where I will be met by a member from the volunteer team!

I will try to keep everyone updated about my penguin and other wildlife encounters (including all the bites and bruises anticipated) during my stay in Cape Town via the blog, so please keep in touch!

I would just like to thank all the Keepers at the park and members of public who have shown a great deal of support and genorosity towards myself and SANCCOB, so THANKYOU to all and will see you in six weeks!!!

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING WEEKEND!

What are you and your family up to this August Bank Holiday Weekend? We’ve got lots going on at Seaview Wildlife Encounter including a very important fund raising event. This is your chance to get involved in a really special project …….
One of our Senior Head Keepers (Tara Hayter, pictured above) has volunteered to go to Cape Town for 6 weeks in October of this year – to assist with the rescue and care of African Penguins and other marine birds that have been orphaned or affected by oil spills off the Cape coast.