Community‑rooted, empathy‑driven action for African penguins on the brink #NotBy2035
shannon.duplessis 
| How a generous gift of surveillance cameras is helping protect one of South Africa’s most endangered seabird colonies around the clock. Late last year, we funded a surveillance system for our partner, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, in South Africa. We just received a full report back from their team, and honestly, we couldn’t keep … Read more |
| Most people will never meet an African penguin in person. You may never feel the surprise of seeing a small black‑and‑white bird waddle past your feet as if you’re just another rock on the beach. You may never hear their donkey‑like call echo across the shoreline or watch a parent shuffle back from the sea … Read more |
| When Trump and Netanyahu decided to conduct an Iran “excursion” (war), we got a bad feeling for many reasons. Our first thought was that the Strait of Hormuz would likely close. Our second thought was the increased danger to the critically endangered African penguins if shipping routes changed. This was one time we didn’t want … Read more |
| What does it take to protect a species on the edge? For the KruShan Foundation, the answer in 2025 looked like early mornings on a South African coastline, a ranger paddling out to an island colony, 32 abandoned chicks getting a second chance, and a room full of Austin neighbors learning why an endangered seabird … Read more |
| Along the South African coast, people show up every day to save African penguins in trouble. Some birds arrive covered in oil. Some arrive starving. Some arrive injured. Each one is a life on the edge. Each one deserves a chance to return to the ocean. The African penguin is in crisis. Fewer than 10,000 … Read more |
| Let me take you back to 2010. I’m in South Africa for the first time. My husband, Kruger, who grew up there, is introducing me to African penguins. I’m enchanted. Something shifts that I don’t have words for yet. I’m not a conservationist. I am running my technical writing company. Logic and facts are my … Read more |
| It’s been a year since the KruShan X-Ray Room opened at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary in Kleinbaai, Gansbaai — a transformative donation from Shannon and Kruger du Plessis of the KruShan Foundation. In just one year, the X-Ray Room has become a hive of activity, providing immediate, on-site diagnostics for African Penguins, seabirds, … Read more |
| Why protecting Africa’s most endangered seabird begins not at the water’s edge, but in classrooms four kilometres inland. Most students at Masakhane Primary and Gansbaai Primary in Gansbaai, South Africa, had never walked down to the sea until recently, despite living four kilometers from the water’s edge. This is not a story about distance. It … Read more |
| Limp Bisket’s journey through the rescue world began in 2021, when he was discovered on Bird Island with devastating seal‑bite injuries to his abdomen and leg. SANCCOB’s Port Elizabeth team pulled him back from the brink, nursing him through infection, pain, and the long, slow work of healing. Against the odds, he recovered—scarred, but strong … Read more |
| Bridges arrived at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary in January 2022 after being found at Danger Point with a dislocated left shoulder caused by a seal bite. The injury left him with limited use of his left flipper, but it never diminished his gentle personality. He is one of their calmest residents, often choosing … Read more |