Saving the stork

Every year, storks travelling from Europe, are found in the Ras Mohammed National park, stopping off on their way to Southern Africa. At the end of October 2009 a group of divers on King Mina rescued one of these migratory birds from the waters of the Red Sea.

Tired, our stork (we named Ana) had no other choice than to rest on Shark Reef with the hope of recovering her energy and rejoining the rest of the flock. Unfortunately, the sea was very rough that day and her feathers were quickly soaked, preventing her from flying off again. Unable to fly, Ana jumped into the water, hoping to reach land, but the strong surface current took her further away. After a long swim against the current she was close to drowning. At this precise moment our divers surfaced. Imagine their surprise, when they found themselves face to face with a migrating bird. Much to the relief of Ana, she was helped out of the water. Exhausted, our friend showed herself to be very cooperative. Our new passenger was taken to the bow of the boat in the sun and wrapped up in a nice warm towel.
The crew came out with a freshly baked cake, and in no time it was eaten and Ana had restored enough energy as we got back to the jetty.

The Rangers of the National Park came, collected her and returned her back to her family in the Park.