The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) was established in 1967 as a practical response to the diminishing African penguin population. SANCCOB has helped to treat more than 80,000 sea birds since its inception, of which the majority have been African penguins, Cape gannets, cormorants and seagulls.

In June of 2000, 1,344 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from the ship "MV Treasure" off the coast of Cape Town. The Treasure spill resulted in the largest rescue of seabirds ever in history, and it tested SANCCOB's three decades worth of experience. With the assistance of thousands of volunteers and other conservation organisations (including: IFAW, Marine & Coastal Management, WWF, Cape Peninsula National Parks, Western Cape Nature Conservation Board, the Avian Demography Unit, Robben Island etc.), 19,000 birds were collected, for rehabilitation. The remaining 19,000 clean birds were shipped up the coast (away from the oil) where they began their epic swim home.

Despite its lack of funding, SANCCOB remains at the forefront of international research in the field of penguin rehabilitation, as is evidenced by the tremendous improvements in treatment techniques over the past few years. 90% of the 19,000 birds that were treated from the Treasure oil spill were successfully cleaned, rehabilitated and released back into the wild. Although the hype of the Treasure spill has long since passed, SANCCOB continues to admit and rehabilitate sea birds every day.

SANCCOB is a non-profit organisation (Registration #: 2001/026273/08), and at present its viability relies solely on private donations and corporate sponsorships. If you would like to help SANCCOB to save seabirds, make a donation.
Donations can be made to: SANCCOB, First National Bank, Table View, Acct #: 592 371 35859, Branch code: 203 809.