![\"seabird](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772698328_33_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\")
Wildlife Rescue <\/p>\nLast month, a woman was strolling on a beach in Ballito, South Africa, when she noticed a pile of feathers on one of the rocks lining the shore.<\/p>\n
At first glance, the woman didn\u2019t think much of it, and she continued her walk. But later, when she passed the rock again on her way back, she realized something was wrong. The large white seabird, a Cape gannet, was slumped over and unmoving.<\/p>\n
Wildlife Rescue <\/p>\n
The woman quickly alerted the lifeguard on duty, Joshua Leitch. Leitch, who\u2019s also a volunteer with Wildlife Rescue<\/a>, could immediately tell the bird needed help. He contacted his colleague and fellow rescuer, Lindy Elmes, who raced to the scene.<\/p>\n Elmes examined the bird and found him in bad shape. According to Elmes, Cape gannets are usually powerful, alert and defensive. But this one was much more lethargic.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was resting quietly with his head tucked under his wing, a posture often seen in exhausted seabirds,\u201d Elmes told The Dodo. \u201cHe appeared profoundly fatigued and unusually still, which suggested he was beyond normal resting behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the bird\u2019s tiredness was troubling, his calm demeanor made the rescue easy. Leitch and Elmes swiftly secured him and brought him to Ballito Veterinary Clinic.<\/p>\n You can watch the rescue unfold in a video here:<\/p>\n Veterinarians examined the Gape gannet and confirmed he was severely dehydrated. They administered fluids, offered sardines for nourishment and placed the bird in a darkened container to minimize his stress.<\/p>\n The next morning, vets noticed improvement, but not enough for release. They moved the bird to the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW)<\/a>, where he\u2019s currently being housed and growing stronger by the day.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this stage, his prognosis is positive,\u201d Elmes said. \u201cWith proper rehabilitation, there is every expectation that he will be returned to the ocean where he belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n The rescuer is happy that this bird will soon be back in the wild, thanks to the dedication of so many animal lovers.<\/p>\n \u201cRescues like this are a reminder of how interconnected coastal communities are with the wildlife around them,\u201d Elmes said. \u201cFrom the observant beach walker, to the lifeguard, Wildlife Rescue, the veterinary team and the rehabilitation [center] \u2014 every person played a role.\u201d<\/p>\n You can keep up with Wildlife Rescue\u00a0by following them on Facebook<\/a>.![\"hurt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772698328_679_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\")
Wildlife Rescue <\/p>\n![\"rescued](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772698329_736_scale;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\")
Wildlife Rescue <\/p>\n![\"Runner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772698329_404_flatten;crop;webp=auto;jpeg_quality=60.jpg\")
<\/a>Runner Sees A Young Turtle Sitting On The Beach \u2014 And Realizes Something’s WrongShe stayed by her side for hours.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, a woman was strolling on a beach in Ballito, South Africa, when she noticed a pile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[6587,49,48,6586,295,6585,66,48305,2225,6584,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-515573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-encounters","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-daily-dodo","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-maeve-dunigan","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-seabird","16":"tag-standard","17":"tag-the-dodo","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}