Tiny oil spill victim waddles to freedom

A stroppy little penguin was glad to waddle back to his home among the shoreline rocks at Mt Maunganui this morning, after being found covered in oil amid a spill in April.

In a scene reminiscent of the mass releases of little blue penguins freed following the 2011 Rena oil spill, the bird was let go around the Mount before a small group of onlookers.

Mobil One, believed to be about 18 months old, had been named after the oil spill he had been caught up in the midst of a storm on April 27, when a botch-up caused heavy fuel oil to leak into Tauranga Harbour.

After being found in an estuary, badly oiled and in very poor condition, he was taken by the Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre and then delivered to the Tauranga-based Native Bird Rescue Haven the following day.

Bird rescuer Chrissy Jefferson waited for 72 hours before attempting to wash the oil off him, as was recommended as it reduced stress.

"He was very dehydrated, so at first we just pumped him with electrolytes three times a day," she said.

As soon as he was clean, a hungry Mobil One snacked on a feed of frozen anchovies from her fingers.

The rest of his recovery was spent regaining his natural waterproofing in a small pool and hanging out with two other young penguins that had been brought in - one which had been attacked by a seagull.

Department of Conservation Officer John Heaphy said Tauranga had been very lucky that there was so little impact on wildlife from the oil spill.

"The bird nesting season was over, the last of the migratory waders had left for the northern hemisphere and we had no fur seals, especially pups, in the harbour," he said.

"They've just started arriving now. The weather also helped, because there was a 40 knot northerly on an incoming tide that day, which washed the oil straight down the harbour."

There were only three wildlife fatalities - two oiled shags and a grey faced petrel - during the spill.

"It could have been very different. Tauranga Moana wildlife dodged a potentially catastrophic bullet this time."