Tahatai Coast School pupil Adam Burton-Brown was ecstatic when the little blue penguin he released at Mount Maunganui this morning was the first to make it into the crashing waves of the ocean.

The 11-year-old pupil was one of 22 Year 6 students from the school, and one of more than 160 children from Tauranga primary schools that turned out to see the release of 30 little blue penguins next to Leisure Island at Mount Maunganui Main Beach.

Adam was chosen to open the door to the penguin box before watching as the little blue bird scuttled along the sand, springing into the fresh cool waves of the sea.

This is the first time the penguin has swum near its home on Leisure Island since becoming oiled following the grounding of the Rena on October 5.

'I was a bit nervous that the penguin was going to jump on me when I opened the door,” says Adam.

'Mine was pretty scared and sprinted off into the water – it was the winning penguin.”

Thirty other birds followed close behind as they waddled and flapped their way into the breaking waves.

Only one got left behind, a bit disorientated and confused as he tried to figure out where his buddies had gone.

Helped by Oiled Wildlife responders Brett Gartrell and Kerri Morgan, the rogue bird finally joined the others in the water.

'I think he wanted to stay, or he might have been tired and shocked,” says Adam.

Kerri says the penguins will easily make their way home to Leisure Island, with all now clean and healthy enough to return to their original habitat.

Tahatai Coast School pupils Ryan Collier, 10, Conor Ryan, 10, Keenan Rowe ,10.

Students from Bellevue Primary, Omanu Primary, Mount Maunganui Primary and Tauranga Primary also attended the release, along with more than 200 other people.

Tahatai Coast School team leader Keri Hunt accompanied the Room 33 class to the beach as part of the school's involvement in the Envirogroup programme.

'These students are all Enviro-buddies. Some of them did a school assembly the other day where they showed a movie about the previous release of penguins.”

With the school located on Evans Road in Papamoa, Keri says the beach is the children's backyard.

'The whole idea of bringing them today is to show them the impact we can have on the environment, show them they have a real responsibility to the environment.”

Keri also says many of the pupils were upset the Guy Fawkes fireworks celebration did not go ahead and this shows them why.

Pupils from Bellevue School were invited after they wrote 45 letters to the Wildlife Response Centre about the penguins, and other birds being treated for oil.

Omanu Primary School pupils Matt Anderson, 7, Sam Petersen, 7, Ryan Dunn, 7, Jack Jones, 7.

There have been four releases of penguins since the Rena ran aground on October 5, spilling more than 350 tonnes of oil into the ocean and injuring more than 300 penguins.

There are now 199 little blue penguins housed at the Wildlife Centre in Te Maunga, along with 12 dotterels, a further five of which will be released at Matakana Island today.

The planned release of penguins was meant to go ahead on Monday, but was postponed when further oil leaked from the vessel's duct keel on Saturday, December 3.

Kerri says the decision was made as a precautionary measure as more oil threatened to wash up on Mount Maunganui beaches.

'The ship was in a precarious situation and fortunately it didn't escalate.

'There is a better chance the birds will survive in their own habitat now, rather than wait until the ship is removed.”

Kerri says all of the adult birds have undergone the same tests as previously released birds, including a veterinary check and six hour swimming test.

They have all been micro-chipped and teams will be monitoring the progress of the birds with nightly assessments of the area.

Tauranga resident Kate Akers has been working with the penguins for the last month, helping to clean, wash and waterproof the birds.

'It is a wonderful Christmas present for the penguins, and for all of the wildlife team working at the centre.

'So many volunteers have worked so hard and now look, the beaches are once again beautiful.”