Oiled penguin prepares for release after recovery

Chrissy Jefferson with Mobil One, who will be ready for release in two weeks. Photo / George Novak

A penguin recovering after being coated in oil in last month's oil spill has earned himself the name Mobil One.

Mobil One has been at the Oropi Native Bird Sanctuary for three weeks and will take on a six-hour swim in his new swimming pool next week in preparation for his release.

Mobil Oil donated the pool to help with the bird's recovery.

The bird was found by a volunteer from the Mauao Wildlife Trust and taken to ARRC Wildlife Trust to be assessed before being taken to the sanctuary for rehabilitation.

Chrissy Jefferson, who runs the sanctuary, said he was "100 per cent covered" when he arrived and needed to be cleaned four times before a rigorous rinsing process.

"It's a very stressful process that's why we don't clean them for the first 72 hours ... The stress would kill them."

Mobil One was the only penguin taken to the Oropi Native Bird Sanctuary, covered in oil after last month's oil spill. Photo / Supplied

She treated about 400 penguins during the Rena oil spill and said it was lucky to only have one in the recent spill.

He was called Mobil One because she was expecting more penguins and planned to name them successively.

"And thank goodness we didn't get Mobil Two," she laughed.

Mobil One was halfway towards being fully waterproof again and would be ready to be released in another two weeks, she said. A morning with calm weather was the best for releasing, Mrs Jefferson said.

"He's a really good, strong swimmer and he won't take long."

View video of the penguin below or mobile and app users click here.