Un-oiled penguins were caught, trucked to and released near Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape. The time they took to swim home enabled the authorities to clean up the oil in their feeding grounds. The oil spill happened in the peak breeding season. This was the biggest evacuation of wildlife since Operation Noah during the flooding of Lake Kariba. The large-scale translocation of penguins was an experiment necessitated by the large numbers of birds at risk.
Early results suggest that the survival rate has been excellent.
Research activities to measure the success of the operation had to be designed in mid crisis. Fortunately technology needed for the tracking of released penguins was in place from earlier research into foraging areas of these birds. According to Van der Elst, many lessons were learnt from this disaster. The South African Oil Spill Contingency Plan needs updating to place greater emphasis on prevention. Experience gained in the cleaning, translocation and chick rearing need to be documented for future use and application.