MOSSEL BAY NEWS- The king penguin seen on Second Beach in Dana Bay on Wednesday, 24 January, is still at the Seabird and Penguin Rehabilitation Centre (SAPREC) at Mossdustria, outside Mossel Bay.

SAPREC founder Carol Walton told Mossel Bay Advertiser the penguin loves its air-conditioned room and enjoys resting on ice packs. Walton said the bird was still in isolation and that it could only be released when it went into its natural moult.

"Once a year they lose all their feathers and don't go back to the sea for about three weeks. Its natural moulting stopped because it was sick and anaemic. We have to push it back into its natural moult, with lots of feeding and supplements."

Professor Lorien Pichegru from the Coastal and Marine Research Institute in Nelson Mandela Bay told the Advertiser there might be several reasons why the penguin travelled thousands of kilometres all the way from the sub-Antarctic islands.

"It is probably still a young penguin. Young penguins explore the area quite a lot so they can get lost. We also notice more and more of what used to be rare sightings, and they are getting more and more common on the coast of South Africa. We suspect it might be due to climate change."

Pichegru said this is, however, just a theory. She said it was also possible the penguin was caught by a ship and released in a different place.

She said there had been a few of these cases in recent years that could have been due to environmental changes but it was not certain.

Walton said once the penguin was ready, it would be taken to a deserted beach and monitored and see if it went back into the ocean. "Hopefully it will go back to where it belongs."

The sex of the penguin is still not known. 

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