I am just back home after my first week down at SANCCOB depot in Salt River, and thought I would share a few impressions with you.

Day 1 - Reported to reception and got kitted out with oilskins, gloves and wellies, and was immediately allocated to the first task which all the newies go to - scrubbing the portapool liners of guano and re-setting the pen with newspaper and matting for the next occupants. However, I soon got the opportunity to be trained in the art of catching and handling the birds, and boy, is this a steep learning curve! You either learn very fast or start tallying the "eina" pecks on the left wrist and thumb. If you don't get the birds under control pretty fast, they seem to nail you on the same spots over and over, so in about an hour and a half - and more for reasons of self-preservation than any other - one becomes an "instant expert" at catching and holding these wriggly little varmints. Once over the initial mastering of the techniques required, one can concentrate on improving so as to cause the birds the least amount of stress in the process. By 1030 was allocated to a feeding team of three feeders and one carrier. This involves entering a designated pen containing about 150 penguins and - sitting on an upturned milk crate and with a bucket of sardines alongside - proceeding to catch one and immobilise it by means of holding it not-so-gently between the thighs and force feeding three sardines plus one special fish containing medication. This process is repeated and repeated and ... say no more. I had committed to working a double shift each day i.e. from 0800 to 1800, but had to "retire buggered" at 1630. At the end of this first day, I felt just like I did after running my first Comrades!

Day 2 - As day one but feeding all day. Was placed with two ladies who had already been going for a week, and felt quite shamed at my comparative inefficiency, so - being the MCP that I am - determined to improve my technique and speed to match these dextrous Amazons. However, on this day a new facto emerged. The sardines arrived frozen solid, due to the huge demand generated by a steadily increasing number of volunteers, thus overwhelming the defrosters. Naturally, the ease of inserting a hard-frozen 7" sardine down a penguin's gullet has to be done a great deal more carefully than a nice fresh slimy defrosted one. Our pleas for warmer fish went unheeded until about three hours through the day, when the natural heat of the day did the job. Felt a hundred percent better at the end of day 2 and made it through to 1800. YES!!

Day 3 - Went fully mentally prepared for another demanding day of feeding, but was hijacked away by the little American lady in charge of the washing bays to head up a new team being set up to pre-oil the birds for washing. This is the equivalent of a washing-machine pre-wash, by gently spraying each bird about to enter the washbays with a light veg oil which acts as a solvent and makes the actual washing process much easier. This process started off beautifully and - working in pairs - we oiled away merrily. But the problem of the oil soon manifested itself, as the oilskins and gloves soon get a liberal coating of the veg oil and make control of the now very slippery bird ever more challenging. However, now having progressed from "newie" to "expert" to "2nd day veteran" we were not to be deterred and made it through another demanding but interesting day.

Day 4 - Jeannie from Sacramento allocates me to the drying room to handle birds for one of the attending vets. This room is situated at the end of the washing section and - once the birds have been washed and thoroughly rinsed - they are bought through to a room equipped with infra-red dryers where the vet handler takes the bird and holds its trachea open for the vet to insert a thin plastic tube into the stomach and inject 120 ml of glucose electrolyte solution for re-hydration, followed by an injection into the keel muscle of 5ml of a multi vitamin. The process is completed by the fitment of a plastic flipper ring, and the bird is deposited into the drying pen until the following morning when the previous day's output is boxed up and transported to SANNCOB, Table View, where they sit out a 2-3 week period until the birds recover their feather mesh and natural oil/air water-proofing, which will allow them to return to the sea - without getting wet to the skin and chilled.

I was absolutely amazed and impressed by the team spirit, work and dedication of everyone there, and also by the unbelievable spectrum of different people throwing in whatever time they can spare. I have been inspired by this huge effort so much that instead of the original intended couple of days I will now be going back for a second week. I can only urge everyone who can afford a few days to make the effort. It will certainly uplift your spirit, even if it does wreck your forearms. The heartbreaking element is, of course, that for every 500 sent out clean, a 1000 new arrivals appear. Nevertheless, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that is the light of the will to overcome of all those wonderful people involved.

Mike Ford
Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa

Originally posted onto SABIRDNET on 09-07-2000
With thanks to Mike.