Established in 1968 , SANCCOB is currently the only organisation mandated by the South African government to respond to crises involving seabirds along South Africa 's coastline and is internationally recognised for the role it played during the MV Treasure oil spill when more than 20,000 African penguins were oiled when the ship sank between Robben Island and Dassen Island . A modeling exercise conducted in 2003 by the University of Cape Town 's Percy Fitz Patrick Institute of African Ornithology found that rehabilitating oiled African penguins has resulted in the current population being 19 percent larger than it would have been in the absence of SANCCOB 's rehabilitation efforts
MV Treasure oil spill
MV Treasure oil spill
African penguin