Why Work at SANCCOB?

SANCCOB, The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, is a nonprofit organization based in Cape Town and has been rescuing and rehabilitating ocean birds for more than 40 years. They rely on volunteers from all over the world to maintain their status as one of the leaders in bird protection in the world. As stated on their website, Sanccob aims to:
     * Rehabilitate oiled, injured, ill and artificially reared orphaned seabirds on a daily basis
     * Prepare for and manage the rehabilitation of seabirds during a major oil spill
     * Raise awareness about conservation through environmental education
     * Collaborate on research projects
     My reason for volunteering at Sanccob has evolved a lot over the last year. When I was young, my mom and I would donate towels and toothbrushes during an oil spill but after I moved to America, I pretty much forgot about them. As I was growing up I developed an interest in Marine Biology and began working at the New England Aquarium. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite taken by the extremely loud and crowded Penguin Tray but in an effort to expand my interests, I contacted Sanccob over the summer and asked if I could shadow someone for a couple of days. Many New England Aquarium alums have passed through the halls of Sanccob and they generously offered me a couple of days of volunteering. I had no idea what I was in for...
     On my first day I was put into oil slicks and boots and paired up with one of the long-term college volunteers. By my second day I knew my way around the tiny building and most of the outdoor enclosure (although I carefully avoided the Gannet's pen in the back). Thinking back, I feel like I was there for weeks because of all the experience I got but in reality it was really only 6 or 7 full days. In that time I learned to pick up and transport a penguin from pen to pen, which is done multiple times a day so the pens can be cleaned. I spent A LOT of time cleaning poop and laying out blankets, and then putting the birds back in their pen and having to clean the other pen because it was already covered in poop. I became an expert, if I do say so myself, at making formula (basically a fish smoothie) and Darrows (like a penguin energy drink) and by my third or fourth day I was tube-feeding juveniles and free feeding adults. I learned to avoid being bitten, but didn't leave without at least a couple of battle wounds, and learned the value of long sleeves. I became so involved and everyone I met was so quick to hand me the reins. I even spent time in the ICU and learned to give pills, helped take blood and record it, and saw it under a microscope.
    Although my first few days there felt like Christmas morning all the time, I also had to learn some hard lessons. Being the first person to check all the animals in the ICU and finding that a penguin, that you had been rooting for all week, has not made it through the night is a sobering experience. Seeing Gannets, some of the most beautiful birds in the world, covered in oil made my stomach sink. It was also hard to see penguins that were not used to humans. All the penguins I had ever seen were at the aquarium and were as friendly and harmless as my cats. But at Sanccob you learn very quickly that they are all wild animals and it was really hard to have to treat the scared chicks without being able to explain to them that you are trying to help. I got especially close to one penguin that began to recognize me and coo when I would go near her. She made similar noises that chicks make to their mothers and would follow me until I would pet her. I had to be very careful not to give her any attention, even when she cried to me through the fence. One day I went back to find that she had been released and I had a hard time understanding my bitter-sweet reaction.
     The lessons I learned from the people and animals at Sanccob will stay with me forever. On my first day, as I sat on a stool in an outdoor pen with rain dripping through the green netting above me, another volunteer said something I will never forget. I was holding a juvenile African Penguin between my knees and was struggling to free feed him (a skill I had not yet acquired, much less become confident in). She told me not to be scared or stressed out because he will sense it. She said that emotions are our form of communicating with animals. She told me that the only way to convince them that I was trying to help was to just send that bird lots and lots of love. Because although humans and birds are worlds apart, every single thing wants to be loved. I will always remember that moment and that life lesson will always be relevant.
     After one day I felt more fulfilled than I ever have and the penguins and people there probably had so much more of an influence on me than any of the work that I helped to do there. It is an amazing experience to see teenagers from all over the world convene in one place for weeks at a time to make a difference in the lives of a few oily birds. So why work at Sanccob? If you were any other animal on the planet instead of a human, and injured or covered in oil, and scared and desperate, wouldn't you want us to help you?