Penguins return to wild after NZ oil spill rescue

The birds released Nov. 22 are among 343 little blue penguins that have been cleaned of oil since a cargo ship ran aground on a reef near Tauranga on Oct. 5 and spilled some 400 tons of fuel oil.

Three little blue penguins stand by a water pool during a cleaning session to get rid of fuel oil from their bodies at the wildlife facility in Tauranga, New Zealand, Friday, Oct. 14, 2011. The penguins were rescued from the sea polluted by oil leaked from the Liberia-flagged container ship Rena that has already spilled hundreds of tons of oil since it ran aground Oct. 5 on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

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