Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Filling the Depths of the SANCCOB Rehab Pool, Eastern Cape

It’s done.  There is no more need for the staff members of SANCCOB Eastern Cape to put on a wetsuit in the pursuit of getting birds out of the swimming pool in the rehabilitation area.  The original pool was over 3 metres deep, dug by an eager Xolani Lawo, one of the seabird rehabilitators at SANCCOB Eastern Cape, back in 2006. 



With the construction of the home pen pool for the birds residing permanently at SANCCOB, it became evident that the rehab pool also needs to be filled up to a manageable depth, ideal for swimming the birds three times a day as part of the rehabilitation process.  With a depth of only 1.2 metres, it is now easy to clean the pool by merely draining the water on a regular interval, without the use of chlorine and other chemicals. 

With some maintenance done on cellular network towers behind the SANCCOB centre, 500 – 600 sandbags, used for anchorage, were donated by Coastal Construction, run by Kallie Etsebeth, a kind warm-hearted man who quickly became friends with the penguins.

The rehab pool was filled up with these sandbags, and with the help of Francois Foster from Shell Irrigation, an old friend of the St Francis penguins, a dream became reality.  The pool was painted a grey colour and the steps were covered with sand to give the new rehab pool a natural feel.

With much excitement, SANCCOB started using the new rehab pool last week, with African penguins, a Cape Gannet and a Cape Cormorant enjoying the new pool by washing and grooming themselves whilst the overly joyed SANCCOB staff tested the water level.  Knee-deep the SANCCOB staff in Cape St Francis, continue SANCCOB’s world renowned rehabilitation work. 


On behalf of the SANCCOB staff, a big thank you to all their sponsors, like Kallie and Francois.  If you would like to support SANCCOB in Cape St Francis, contact Louanne Mostert at +27(0)42 298 0160 or louanne@sanccob.co.za, or have a look at their wish list on the SANCCOB website, www.sanccob.co.za

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