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Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images
Little Blue Penguins runs towards the sea after being released by wild life workers and school children at Mount Maunganui beach in Tauranga on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.
Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images
Wild life workers and school children release Little Blue Penguins.
Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images
Wild life workers and school children release Little Blue Penguins back into the sea at Mount Maunganui beach.
Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images
A Little Blue Penguin encouraged by a wild life worker to head back to the sea.
It makes me happy to see these penguins return to the sea.
AP reports:
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Forty-nine penguins rescued from an oil spill off New Zealand have been freed after being cleaned and nursed back to health by wildlife officials.
The birds released Tuesday are among 343 little blue penguins that have been cleaned of oil since a cargo ship ran aground on a reef near Tauranga on Oct. 5 and spilled some 400 tons of fuel oil.
More than 2,000 sea birds died in the spill.
- Read the full story here.
- See more photos from the shipwrecked Rena and oil spill on PhotoBlog.
- See photos of the penguins their specially knit sweaters during their recovery on Animal Tracks.
Video by WWF-New Zealand / Amy Taylor
Leave a Comment:
They are still unloading containers off the ship and dragging the salvage operation into a year long ordeal.
Penquins are precious!
this story is cooler than penguin piss...
Cutest thing I've seen all day!
There so cute I want one.
Unfortunately, you would need about 19 more to accompany your single Penguin.
I want one too......but if I need 19 more to accompany the single one, I'll take 20!! :)
Run, little guys! Stay away from the black, greasy, foul stuff next time, okay?
What idiots! They have just spent thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars to feed the Sharks. I'm sorry these little guys got messed up by an oil spill but trying to make a big deal about being stupid is well just stupid! 50% of these fellows were most likely eaten before they swam 200 yards away. This makes me think of the lady that was sent a Lobster-gram and instead of eating the lobster put it in the creek behind her house. Duh! This caused a great dealof pain to the lobster as it slowly died where as if it had been boiled and eaten at least would have died to feed someone. There is just no accountig for or fixing Stupid.
Not sure who the idiot is here...
Those penguins are locals, they live around those beaches and swim there every day, coming ashore at night to their burrows on the beach. This of course is how they got oiled in the first place.
They are perfectly able to avoid sharks etc. They are not some captive or exotic animal that's being released outside it's natural environment, they are just being released after being treated for oiling.
Well Ihate, just because you wouldn't survive 5 minutes outside your mom's basement does not mean these little guys would not survive in their natural environment. Humans caused this disaster, humans are responsible to clean it up and try to make right with all inhabitants.
@ihate...Michele Bachmann? Not quite a Michelle not quite a Bachman?
Oh BTW, if you were listening, they have microchips in them to monitor their movements, no not bowel movements, and see if your small minded theory about sharks holds up. Yes ..I AM A LIBERAL !
Thank all of you for proving my point about being stupid about these little guys. You can call me names all you want but it doesn't change the fact this this is just a Liberal way of making yourselves feel like you are doing something for the world. If they really wanted to do something then they should have been spending the money to help the homeless or feed a poor family. Why can't you liberals feel this much compassion for the millions of babies killed every year through abortion? How about having this much compassion for the Maori of your nation of New Zealand? Yes you go ahead and feel real good about 49 pieces of shark bait while 49 babies are being aborted and 49 Maori remain homeless and hungry.
Liberals are cleaning up the messes -- oil, economic, and otherwise that the conservatives continue to dump on society without care for anyone other than their share holders and lining deep pockets. This is a great story and if only there were stronger (national and international) shipping standards, it could have been avoided to begin with. But you go on and keep complaining against liberals and do nothing except fear-mongering and discouraging helping others that aren't part of YOUR causes -- Gingrich and Bush would be proud of you.
Beth-2977598 you can complain about companies all you want but if Liberals and eco-freaks really got their way we wouldn't be able to have this talk because there wouldn't be any computers, oil ships, lights , food on your table etc etc etc. There does have to be balance but don't bite the hand that feeds your either. BTW - the Bush family are liberal Republicans not conservatives. How did Gingrich get into this discussion? Hmmm I'm for Romney anyway.
ihateliberals-It is human nature to try and help people and animals because we all populate the earth. I hope that one day you don't have to rely on a human to save your sorry a__! Nothing like a right winger to make a mountain out of a molehill.
This is a story about freeing some penguins back into their habitat.......why does EVERY story have to turn into a political debate? I am sick of hearing about politics which is why I read article such as this.
hahahahahah ihateliberals.
you are the best troll ever.
But, seriously, yay for the penguins that are free and yay for the sharks that have to eat something, right?
As much as I hate to admit it, you are right. Most will be shark food in the first week to ten days. They don't know what to do or fear and once they are in captivity it is almost impossible to send them back out. Same thing just happened to the emperor Penquin that they released back in the antartic. The tracking beeper failed in first 4 days. Suspicion is he was eaten by a shark or killer whale. Especially since the tracker was sending out a signal, and then just stopped. It could be the signal just attracted the very predators that may have eaten him.
As much as I hate to admit it, you are right. Most will be shark food in the first week to ten days. They don't know what to do or fear and once they are in captivity it is almost impossible to send them back out. Same thing just happened to the emperor Penquin that they released back in the antartic. The tracking beeper failed in first 4 days. Suspicion is he was eaten by a shark or killer whale. Especially since the tracker was sending out a signal, and then just stopped. It could be the signal just attracted the very predators that may have eaten him.
Aww shucks, Hater, that one's easy. These little critters are gods children too - born and breathing, screwed up temporarily by one of our many "accidents" - it's only right that we rectify and do right by them - we're supposed to be good shepherds for the gifts we've been given, right? Oh, and one more time, "babies" are born and breathing, and therefore not killed when a pregnancy is terminated. Devil's in the details, eh?
As an oil spill responder (who was at this spill), I'd like to clear up a few comments. First, the money spent on caring for the penguins couldn't have gone anywhere else, such as feeding the homeless. This is money that the responsible party was obligated to pay for the damages they caused. It doesn't come from taxpayer dollars or other programs, so this wasn't money that was taken away from something else. Second, you have no scientific basis to claim that half of them will be killed before swimming 200 yards. These are wild animals and that is their natural habitat. Survival of oil spill animals varies greatly by species, but penguins in general have a very high rate of survival when released back to the wild. Last, these penguins weren't fitted with transponders, they were implanted with microchips. They are about the size of a grain of rice, and are the same kind of thing that pets are implanted with, to identify them if they get lost. It will in no way impact their survival.
This really isn't a liberal or a conservative matter. It is simply a shipping company paying for damage that it has caused.
Thank you abc12345 for helping the spill clean up and for the comment.
How cute, they seem so happy and anxious to be back in the sea, look at how fast they're running!
I will run hundred times around the world for you, my darling.
How fast do you run to the sea?
ihateliberals
Proof positive, Thank you.
Seeing these little guys cleaned up and sent back to the sea with a clean bill of health helps make everyone feel a little better. Sorry to those other animals that didn't make it. Lets hope we have no further incidents.
this is a small bit of good news ...and CUTE!!
Would have been funny to see the seal getting fed!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SSSOOO CCCUUUTTTEE!!!
lol that was my first reaction
second was
LOOKATTHEMLITTLEPENGUINSBOBBINGAROUNDANDWADDLINGAROUNDINZIGZAGGYCIRCLES
the cuteness has overwhelmed me
This is just happiness at it's finest. It's stories like this that are me smile. :)
Amen to that.
Thanks for the salvation. Thanks for the Good Samaritans. Thanks for the Christmas gift, a life. Thanks.
Yes, lets praise for the salvation of those cute little baby penguins but the sharks are also creature of God.
He who has not feasted on fish or chickens step forth and cast the first spear to kill the shark.
Given a second chance. How wonderful.
That first pic is truly cute... hard to think of a more appropriate word for it. I can't help but smile when I look at it!
A picture that is indeed worth a thousand words.
THANK YOU to these people who helped these penguins. It's nice to finally see a POSITIVE story out in the news about how people treat animals. I wish there were more people out there like these people!
I LOVE the picture of them running toward the water. They look so happy and free. Thanks to all who rescued these adorable little creatures.
So. Cute. That's all that needs saying.
Those people in New Zealand are getting a lot of good Karma from that. And the first picture of the little fellows running to the sea made my day.
ihateliberals is one idiot we don't need..You are suppose feel remorse for abortions??? No Gov't or persons should tell a woman what she does with her body, Ignorance prevails when you think every child in it's beginning stages should be conceived) and if you don't have compassion for people and animlas( that depend on us to care for them) then you are beyond a right wing idiot.. Helping any creature or person is a positive in this NEGATIVE world we live in. You would think after all these spills that companies would take exteme measures to eliminate them.. =Maybe ihateliberals can cough up the some of the big corporate $$$$$$ to improve technology..
awww. I love penguins.. so glad that these people helped them get back to a state where they could survive.. It's always nice to read about the good in the world instead of just the bad all the time.
Why do we still use oil? There are better / cleaner methods...
To be a penguin is to have webbed feet so as to propell through whatever elements may challenge them, and with the excitement and the new zeal for their land the words are joined creating new zealand which is where a black dense material shows a skim across the water and sickens the animals so unaware. Where is the batman when you need him to conquer the dirty and mean penguin and free the others? I say he is hiding in a comic book somewhere frustrated by his scruptulous condition, and twiddling his thumbs due to inactivity for such a long time, but dont count him out just yet because he has helped in the past. If the penguins trust and believe him he will bring them the anticdote to be free of the condition of black lung or even black belly, kidneys,liver, and will deploy them in a safe spot which is their sweet spot, but for the bad penguins they may rot. The only thing that one can truly say is boom boom and a bamm bamm and a pop dop dee dop.