Mortality and survival of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus involved inthe Apollo Sea oil spill: an evaluation of rehabilitation efforts

The bulk ore carrier Apollo Seer sank near Dassen Island, South Africa, on 20 June 1994 during a period of winter storms. Approximately 10 000 African (Jackass) Penguins Spheniscus demersus were oiled, collected and transport ed to the SANCCOB rescue centre; 5213 were released after cleaning, 4076 wi th flipper bands. We believe that most of the penguins oiled during this in cident reached an island or the mainland alive, and that there was no mass mortality in the wild at the time of the oil spill. Birds from all parts of the breeding range were oiled, but most were from Robben and Dassen Island s. The overwhelming majority of released birds made the transition from the rescue centre to the wild successfully; 2652 had been resighted at breedin g colonies within two years of their release; the cumulative number of bird s was increasing steadily and an asymptote had not been reached by August 1 996. There was a wide dispersal of released penguins, with recoveries and r esightings over 1800 km of coastline between Algoa Bay and Walvis Bay.