June 23, 2000, will never be forgotten. On that day, a cargo ship sank in Cape Town's Table Bay, spilling 1,200 tons of oil into the sea and devastating nearby colonies of endangered African penguins. The environmental crisis launched the largest seabird rescue in history. More than 38,000 birds had to be captured and relocated from their stricken colonies on Robben and Dassen islands. Of that, about 25,000 oiled birds, like the one shown, were sent to rehabilitation centers where they were cared for by marine conservation professionals and volunteers until they were healthy enough to be released back into the wild.